By Niall Stuart
It’s becoming increasingly clear that, when 2020 arrives, Scotland will
have missed its much-vaunted 100 per cent renewable electricity target.
Though the reasons for that may be up for debate, few people would deny
that the 100 per cent target has provided a hugely powerful focus for
government and industry and helped create the green energy industry we have
today; one that provides half of our electricity and supports 21,000 jobs.
With almost exactly four months to go until May’s Holyrood elections, and
four years until the end of the decade, now is the time to set ourselves
new challenges.
In the manifesto we publish today ahead of that election, we set out the
case for extending our horizons beyond existing targets for 2020 and for
the setting of a new vision for renewable energy in Scotland to 2030.
At its heart, that vision should be designed to continue the development of
our established renewable technologies while supporting the growth of new
parts of the industry.
But it must also reflect the need for a more strategic approach to how we
increase renewables’ share of our energy needs, and the changes we need to
make in the way we distribute, store and use energy as we move away from
fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives.
We believe that, by 2030, half of all the energy consumed in Scotland, in
the form of electricity and heat, and by our transport sector, should come
from renewable sources.
Meeting this goal would require a tripling of green energy from 2014;
achievable, given that the latest figures show we will be more than halfway
there by 2020.
This new objective would be a natural next step from the country’s existing
2020 renewables targets and would be the most effective way to both tackle
carbon emissions and maintain secure energy supplies.
Our manifesto sets out our ideas on how Scotland can best achieve this –
and many other – new aspirations by focusing on the need for ambition,
leadership, increased competitiveness and innovation.
Not only will these measures support growth in the next chapter of our
industry; they will also ensure that renewables can play a key role in
meeting Scotland’s climate-change targets and maximising the jobs and
investment our sector can deliver.
Some of those measures are straightforward and we hope they’ll receive
cross-party support. Communities, for example, are already taking control
of their energy use, demonstrated by the announcement last October that
Scotland had surpassed its target of generating 500MW of locally and
community owned renewable energy five years early.
We want to expand community and local ownership of renewable energy
projects though the creation of a Scottish Renewable Energy Bond that would
allow savers to generate returns from the growth of the UK’s renewable
energy sector, as well as bring in capital to finance future development at
an attractive rate.
Our public sector, too, has a role to play: Scottish Renewables would like
to see local authorities, NHS boards and the Scottish Government act as
exemplars, spearheading the growth of renewable energy through a target for
its use in heat, power and transport for public bodies.
Scottish Renewables research last year showed just one per cent of local
authority buildings are heated by renewable sources, a figure we’d like to
see increase dramatically.
We also believe that our transport sector should receive more help to
decarbonise.
We would like to see the contribution of sustainable transport acknowledged
by allowing the use of bus lanes, providing free parking and expanding the
provision of charging and re-fuelling points for low-carbon vehicles.
No one should be under any illusion: the challenges ahead are great and,
while transport, electricity and heat all have contributions to make, no
sector on its own can deliver the overall changes we need to ensure the
continued growth of renewable energy.
However, we believe that the continued growth of renewable energy should
and will be be one of the defining features of our economy over coming
years, and that our industry can be at the centre of efforts to build the
progressive, inclusive and successful Scotland we want to see.
We look forward to the debate and to working with the next Scottish
Government on the vital task of defining the future of renewable energy in
this country.
Niall Stuart is chief executive of Scottish Renewables.
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