Scotland's Economy

Renewables in Scotland: Adding Up to a Brighter Future

August 4, 2014 by Niall Stuart, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables No Comments | Category Energy

Let’s start with some facts about renewable energy – leaving aside, briefly, the industry’s significant contribution to Scotland’s energy mix.

First, Department of Energy and Climate Change research shows 80% of the UK public back “the use of renewable energy for providing our electricity, fuel and heat”, while just one in 20 oppose the idea.

Second, the same survey shows the vast majority of Britons stand firmly behind efforts to grow the output of renewables, with 59% backing the development of a large-scale renewable energy project in their area.

Readers shouldn’t be surprised by these statistics, but many will be.

Our industry is the new kid on the block in the UK’s energy mix, meaning every penny invested in green energy is scrutinised in minute detail.

Sometimes, that means we can lose sight of the ultimate objective of renewables – and the positive impact technologies like wind power, hydro and solar are having in Scotland today.

At the end of last month, Scottish Renewables launched Renewables in Scotland: Adding Up to a Brighter Future – an animated short film and accompanying pdf to educate, inform and empower those with an interest in green energy with the facts around its contribution to our society.

This new animation was launched at a Scottish Government event as part of Glasgow’s glittering Commonwealth Games.

It sets out some key facts for the industry, including how Scotland has doubled its renewable electricity output since 2007 and now generates the equivalent of around half of the electricity consumed here every year from wind, hydro and other renewables.

From the highest levels of the United Nations to towns and villages across Scotland, people are increasingly clear that we have to make a fundamental shift in the way we power our businesses, in the way we heat our homes, and in how we fuel our journeys by plane, train or automobile.

There is a long way to go, and many tough questions to be answered about the future of every part of our sector, but Scotland has delivered a significant shift in the right direction already.

Though many of the old coal power stations have gone, we’re still producing as much electricity as ever – and selling 25% of it to our neighbours.

In 2012, 10 million tonnes of carbon emissions were displaced by renewable electricity in Scotland – that’s the equivalent of 99% of the CO2 from every car, lorry and bus journey in the nation over a whole year.

Renewable energy isn’t just good for the planet. It’s good for our economy, with more than £1bn invested in Scotland in 2013 alone. It’s good for employment, with almost 12,000 full-time roles across the country. And it’s good for our communities, with more than £6m of community benefit payments made every year.

Yes there is a debate about cost. But as we set out in our two-and-a half minute video, the Renewables Obligation and the Feed in Tariff – the mechanisms by which the decarbonisation of our energy supply is largely funded – cost the average household just 71p a week. That’s significantly less than nuclear decommissioning costs us all, and a fraction of the tax breaks given to support investment in coal, oil and gas.

There is a long way to go to our absolute target, and progress on renewing the heat sector – responsible for around half of Scotland’s carbon emissions – has been painfully slow, but the growth of renewable energy is delivering a cleaner, greener, more prosperous and secure future for Scotland’s economy, people and environment, exactly as it is intended to do.

So as we prepare to gear up to tackle the numerous threats to the continuing growth of our sector, let’s take some time out to reflect on where we are today, and how far we have come, and how renewables today are adding up to a brighter future.

Tags: economy, renewable, renewables

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