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| Fig. 1: Clyde Wind Power Farm, Scotland. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
Scotland is the northernmost country belonging to the United Kingdom, situated off the northwest coast of Europe, with a population of approximately 5.42 million. [1] Over the last few years, Scotland has worked hard to implement an array of renewable power schemes and has worked to expand their reliance on renewable energy sources, consequently limiting their existing reliance on coal, nuclear and gas sources. In response to these schemes and initiatives, Scotland and the UK have seen a growing decline in their reliance on coal and gas for energy generation since 2000. [2]
In 2014, over 15 percent of Scotland's total energy consumption came from renewable energy sources. [2] In 2015, renewable energy accounted for approximately 59.4% of total electricity consumption, whilst renewable energy accounted for around 3.8% of total heat energy consumed and roughly 4% of the energy consumed within the transport industry.
The electricity sector has for many years been at the heart of Scotland's focus on renewable energy. From the statistic for the percentage of renewable energy counted in the total electricity fuel mix above, we can see that in 2015 energy from renewable sources was the highest contributor to Scotland's electricity generation. The two biggest renewable energy sources that contribute to producing electricity in Scotland are currently wind power, and hydropower. To get an understanding of which renewable energy sources Scotland relies most heavily upon, we can again look at the statistics from electricity generation from renewables in 2015: In 2015, Energy produced from wind turbines, such as the Clyde Wind Farm (see Fig. 1), accounted for around 64% of the electricity produced by renewable sources, hydro power accounted for 27% of this, with the next highest contributor being from bioenergy.
Over the last decade, Scotland has succeeded in meeting a number of renewable energy goals including meeting their ambitious 2020 target of installing 500 MW of locally and community owned renewable energy generation capacity. Through these various schemes, Scotland has not only increased their reliance on renewable energy demonstrated clearly through their statistics of the percentage of energy produced through renewables in the heat, transport, and electricity sectors, however they have also consequently succeeded in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by almost 40% since 1990, reducing the overall energy demands by investing into improvements in energy efficiency, reducing the fuel poverty rate, and increasing the reliance on biofuels within the transport industry. [2] Whilst Scotland has already seen a huge leap in their reliance on non-fossil fuel emitting energy sources, there are still schemes and scope to improve this even further.
By 2030, the Scottish Government has set targets to produce at least 50% of Scotland's energy from renewable energy sources. [2] This goal comes from an analysis from company Ricardo Energy and Environment, who claim that in order for Scotland to maximize its benefits from energy, whilst simultaneously minimizing the costs (primarily to the environment), at least 50% of the total energy consumed across heat, transport and electricity sectors should come from renewable energy, with the aim of reaching this goal by 2030. [3] In order to reach this overall gross energy consumption goal, it is important to look at the sub goals for three distinct sectors:
Goal for Electricity: The goal for the electricity sector is to maximize Scotland's reliance on its natural resources and generate 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources, with the aim of building more renewable capacity and providing the opportunity for workers by creating new jobs in the process. [3]
Goal for Transport Sector: By 2030, Scotland hopes to decrease their reliance on petrol and diesel-powered engines in the transport industry by increasing the use of low emission or electric vehicles and make half of the buses operating within Scotland electric, and 1/3 of cars electric. [3] The government is also working towards schemes to increase the number of bicycle users and walkers in cities such as Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Goal for Heat Energy: By 2030, Scotland is pushing to have renewables supply 40% of Scotland's heat. [3] This goal will also work alongside Scotland's aim of increasing efficiency through programs set to retrofit insulation within office spaces and homes to reduce heat loss, and simultaneously reducing the demand for heat in homes. Plans to install heat pumps into domestic spaces will also be introduced.
While Scotland's goal for 2030 may seem very ambitious, if properly executed and achieved, an increased reliance on renewable energy could provide many benefits for Scotland. Increasing, building and maintaining new renewable energy structures or plants could create new jobs and stimulate economic activity, which will have a consequent effect of reducing unemployment rates in Scotland and across the UK, improving standards of living and tackling inequalities like fuel poverty. The biggest advantage will be the consequent effect on the environment through the reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide produced through the burning of fossil fuels, hopefully reducing the greenhouse effect and the effects of climate change for future generations.
© Olivia Lancaster. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] "Scotland's Population: The Registrar General's Annual Review of Demographic Trends, 2017," National Records of Scotland, August 2018.
[2] "Energy in Scotland 2017," Scottish Government, February 2017.
[3] "Renewables Target of 50% by 2030 Achievable, Says Report," BBC News, 10 Oct 16.
