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Renewable energy in Scotland has advanced rapidly in the last decade. Scottish renewables benefit from the high winds of the nation. There is also an ability to spread investment costs across the whole of the UK consumer base.
There is no doubt that if people in Scotland opt to leave the UK, an independent Scottish government would be committed to giving the Scottish energy industry the support that it needs. They are pursuing a number of interconnection projects with our European neighbours, including Norway and Ireland. For an independent Scotland, this would potentially represent serious competition.
If the UK were to look beyond its borders for renewable energy, we would need to consider which sources provide the cheapest and most reliable options for our people.
Renewable and low carbon energy will provide the foundation of our future energy system, offering Scotland a huge opportunity for economic and industrial growth. We are promoting and exploring the potential of Scotland's renewable energy resource and its ability to meet our local and national heat, transport and electricity needs, while also contributing to meeting our ambitious emissions reduction targets.
Ambitious policies to address climate change
The UK government has established ambitious policies to address climate change and promote renewable energy and has set targets both for reducing carbon emissions and for deploying renewables. Scotland, a constituent nation of the UK, has also set its own targets for climate change mitigation and renewable electricity.
If Scotland accomplishes this goal, that would mean that beginning next year, Scots will not be using any fossil fuels to generate electricity. When Scotland set that 2020 target, it also set an interim goal of powering 50 percent of its electricity with renewable energy by 2015. 1 percent came from renewables. And in 2018, 74. 6 percent of Scotland's gross electricity came from renewable sources, according to power technology. If Scotland achieves its target of being 100 percent powered by renewable electricity next year, it would join a small group of countries who have already accomplished the same goal: Albania, the Congo, Iceland, and Paraguay.
“Scottish green energy engineering skills are in demand from Canada to Taiwan while our environmental, planning and technical knowledge is being used in nigeria, norway and many other countries. “scotland’s renewable energy industry employs 17,700 people and had a turnover of £5. ”
Scotland’s energy minister, paul wheelhouse, said: “Scotland has long been a byword for reliability and expertise in renewable energy advice and engineering matters – from the early days of hydropower development through to today’s world and its growing demand for innovative technical skills and knowledge. Interviews with Scottish Renewables are available.
27 renewable energy organisations responded to a survey on export statistics. Of those, 15 are headquartered in Scotland, and it was from this sample that these snapshot results are drawn.
Wind Power
They sold their stake a project on Lower Carbon Power Stations, expected to become the largest wind farm in the world, to nPower some six months later. In May 2007 Scottish power announced that Alstom power and Doosan Babcock had been commissioned to design plans for “clean coal” technology at Longannet and Cockenzie power stations.
Wave Power
The EMEC is the first and only centre of its kind in the world to provide developers of both wave and tidal energy converters. These technologies generate electricity by harnessing the power of waves and tidal streams – with purpose-built, accredited open-sea testing facilities.
Tidal power
We’re home to both the world’s largest tidal stream project as well as the world’s most powerful floating tidal turbine. Today, the Orkney islands are the epicentre of the marine energy industry and are home to the world’s only accredited marine energy laboratory.
Promotion of renewables
Promotion of renewables[ edit ]. Growing national concerns regarding peak oil and climate change have driven the subject of renewable energy high up the political agenda. Various public bodies and public-private partnerships have been created to develop the potential.
Solar energy
To qualify for FiT (Feed-in-Tarrif) subsidies your system must be fitted by an MSC accredited company. [Update: FiT subsidy has been closed to new renewable energy projects.] Fit case study: we installed attractive solar panels on this detached home in Scotland in such a way that it doesn’t impact the positioning of Velux windows when the owners extend into the loft.
The federal renewable energy production tax credit (set to expire December 2012), for example, credits 2. 1 cents per kilowatt-hour produced. Dig deeper: say yes to solar. Breaking into the green energy business: consider contracting.
Renewable and low carbon energy
“Elgin energy has contacted those neighbours in the immediate vicinity of the site and has offered to answer any queries which might arise. “The land will remain in agricultural use in the form of sheep grazing while being used for the dual purpose of generating low-carbon renewable energy.
Additionally, some of the current farmable lands would become arid and unfarmable in a world that warms by several degrees celsius. Is it too late to stop runaway global warming? perhaps it is. Even if the entire world switched from carbon-based fuels to non-carbon based renewable energy next year, the buildup of carbon dioxide that has already occurred in the atmosphere would continue to increase global temperatures for many centuries into the future.
Renewable energy is one of the best tools we have to combat climate change. As the proportion of renewable electricity in Scotland grows it gradually displaces the need to generate electricity from polluting fossil fuels, reducing total carbon emissions.
Climate Change & Renewables
The country has a rich industrial heritage, over forty years of experience working offshore, and is now positioned to be a prime exporter of renewables throughout the world. Research and developments in renewable energy systems are vital in combatting world climate change and fossil fuel dependency.
Along with star, organisations including Scottish power, Scottish renewables, WWF Scotland, University of Edinburgh, and energy-saving trust, have all pledged to support the CERG’s work in enabling informed net-zero policy development. Dr. Sam Gardner, head of sustainability and climate change, Scottish Power, said: “transforming Scotland's buildings from fossil fuels to renewable heat, delivered via electric heat pumps and heat networks powered by an expansion in renewable generation, needs to happen at scale across the next decade if we are to tackle the climate emergency.
Official figures revealed on Scotland's electricity demand
Official figures revealed that about 35% of Scotland's electricity demand was met by green energy – beating the target of 31% set in 2007. Mr. Salmond told the conference: “When I became the first minister in 2007, I inherited a target for 50% of Scotland's electricity to be produced by renewable sources by 2020.
“We now know that we can achieve much more than that, more quickly – having already exceeded our 2011 target. “last year, we published a route map for renewable energy for Scotland, outlining how we would meet the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020. “today, we are publishing an update to that route map. It shows clearly the progress that has been made in the last year. “in the light of that progress, I can announce that we have set a new interim target – by 2015, the equivalent of 50% of Scotland's electricity demand will be met by renewable sources.
Scotland is shaping up as an exemplary host for this year’s un climate conference, with data showing it is likely to meet its national target of 100 percent renewable electricity in good time for the crucial November 2020 meeting.
A PV Array in Barcelona, Spain
Original Article (Feb 27, 2011):
Green Energy in Scotland To Get Further Red Tape Slashed
Organizations with public buildings and businesses suitable for installing solar panels, and heat pumps, etc, will soon be able to go ahead and generate energy, without requiring planning permission
This follows measures under which the Scottish Government has already reduced the planning burden similarly for homeowners.
A Parliamentary Order within the Scottish Government will be put through, which will pave the way for an assortment of green technologies to be installed on non-domestic buildings, and they state that this will be in place from March 18.
The technologies assisted by this measure will include:
* Solar thermal panels;
* Solar photovoltaic panels;
* Pipework for ground source heat pumps;
* Pipework for water source heat pumps;
* Biomass boilers.
The Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Minister Keith Brown said:
“These changes will help cut red tape in the planning system and enable savings on energy bills. More use of microgeneration technologies such as solar panels can help Scots reduce their emissions and boost the development of a low carbon economy, which is key to Scotland's future success as a nation, creating new jobs in an emerging industry.”
The government press release points out that roof and wall space on large buildings is ideal for solar or photovoltaic panels to generate heat and electricity for use on-site. When there is a surplus excess electric power can be exported to the grid, or there may be other users respectively if a combined heat and power system is also provided.
Clearly, the emerging generation of lower capital cost photovoltaic cells (PVs) is the technology expected to be assisted most by this move. As Scotland is a northern country that experiences weaker sunshine than further south, uptake of PV technology will still be more likely to be more popular further south within the UK. However, the move is to be welcomed as another small step toward improved sustainability.
Also, with the recent further rise in the cost of oil due to the revolutionary turmoil, most recently in Libya, the cost benefits and payback period of PV technologies, are continually improving.
Heat pumps also provide an extremely energy-efficient way of converting the heat in the ground for space and hot water heating. These use the “flywheel” effect of the ground around and below our buildings which stays relatively warm even in cold weather, so the warmth can effectively be pulled from it, using less energy to do that than just “burn” the electrical energy for heating, as would have been done in the past.
The legislation is part of what the Scottish Government will have to do to achieve their renewable heat and electricity targets. More will also have to be done to incentivize the use of on-site renewable energy technologies if the government is to meet its targets.
