SCOTLAND should set its sights on producing half of its total energy needs using renewable technology, according to environmental groups after a new report showed it was an achievable goal.
The report by WWF Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland was based on analysis by Ricardo Energy and Environment, and sets out how our climate targets could be met in the most cost-effective way. It found that to achieve these goals half of all the country’s energy will have to come from renewables in the next 10 years.
The report suggested that two-fifths of Scotland’s homes will be heated from renewable sources, with a Warm Homes Act helping to ensure access to cleaner, more affordable heat. A national energy efficiency programme should help reduce energy use in homes by 30 per cent, while millions of homes will have to be insulated, it added. A third of cars and half of all buses should be electric, with almost all electricity generated from renewables. The groups are urging the Scottish Government to adopt the target and bring forward policies to make it a reality.
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “This report shows that a 50 per cent renewables target for all our energy needs by 2030 is not only needed, but that it is achievable.
“Ministers should now make this a Scottish Government target and bring in the policies needed in its forthcoming energy strategy.
“Doing so would enable Scotland to enjoy the many economic and social benefits that the report suggests would take place as result of generating half of all our energy needs from renewables.
“Scotland is already seeing the economic and social benefits of shifting our electricity system to clean, climate-friendly, renewables generation.
“However, with electricity accounting for just one quarter of our energy use, it’s time to begin to reap the same benefits by increasing the use of renewables in our heat and transport sectors.”
The Scottish Government has already achieved a target to reduce emissions by at least 42 per cent by 2020. It also aims to generate 100 per cent of Scotland’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Chief executive of Scottish Renewables Niall Stuart said it was time to “lift our horizons and set an ambitious target to drive investment in renewable heat, power and transport through the 2020s”.
He added: “This report echoes Scottish Renewables’ call for a new 50 per cent renewable energy target and, importantly, concludes that this is both achievable and key to meeting our climate change targets.”
The Scottish Government will publish its third climate change plan in the New Year, setting out how it intends to meet emissions targets between now and 2032, and work towards a long-term reduction of 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050.
It will also publish a new energy strategy looking at the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said The Scottish Government welcomed the report, as a useful contribution.
Colin McNaught, from Ricardo Energy and Environment said its analysis was the “most sophisticated model yet for what Scotland’s energy system will look like in 2030 if climate targets are to be met in the most cost-effective way”.
He added: “A major transformation across all the energy sectors will need to take place, but the technologies are already available and Scotland has the renewable resources to supply them.”
Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland said: “This report shows that investing in tackling climate change brings many other benefits, including helping create jobs in low-carbon sectors, improving people’s living conditions and cleaning up the toxic traffic pollution that blights our towns and cities. Any way you look at it, a rapid transition to renewable energy makes sense.”
Alexa Morrison, from RSPB Scotland added: “Bringing down the emissions of our whole energy system, including strong action on heat and transport, is crucial to protect our natural environment from climate change. We know that, if we plan the roll out of renewables carefully to avoid our most sensitive places for wildlife, we can meet these targets in harmony with nature.”
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