Does Scotland have enough energy resources?

How to keep the lights on

Stephen Richard — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 15:07:32 +0000

How to keep the lights on Stephen Richard Thu, 10/28/2021 - 16:07

Author or Creator

Common Weal

How to we 'keep the lights on' in an independent Scotland?

How do we make sure Scotland's electricity supply is secure on independence?

There are three bits of the energy system – generating the power, distributing the power to households and businesses and selling power to customers. In the UK this is all privatised and it must be assumed that generation and retail of energy will still be privatised on independence. But it doesn't make any sense to keep the distribution of power privatised because this is an issue for national security and the UK is the only country in Europe that has privatised distribution. While there are all sorts of very good reasons for reforming the energy system after independence, that is for future governments. But securing distribution should be part of the transition planning.

So how do we make sure the electricity keeps flowing?

It's not just electricity through the National Grid, it's gas through the gas grid as well. Both are overseen and managed by what is called a Transmission System Operator (TSO). At the moment this is split up between a few different private companies across the UK but in Scotland it is the responsibility of Scottish Power Networks. It should be converted into a Scottish TSO, but the technical infrastructure and personnel are all in place so this is just a transition to a publicly-owned model. Other that than that, Scotland generates more than enough electricity to meet domestic needs and until policy changes will remain part of the UK energy market. With gas the same applies – purchasing gas and distributing it via the gas grid won't be any different after independence.

Keywords

Electricity

Gas

Power supplies

Energy resources of Scotland

Stephen Richard — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 11:47:58 +0000

Energy resources of Scotland Stephen Richard Mon, 10/18/2021 - 12:47

Author or Creator

Common Weal

Scotland is blessed with remarkable renewable energy resources but has cold winters, a lot of inefficient housing, a very high reliance on gas heating and a particular reliance on transport. We need to tackle all of these. The hardest is heating – there is simply no easy solution to weaning ourselves off natural gas. Alternatives which use the same infrastructure (like hydrogen) are very expensive and alternatives like electric heating (also comparatively expensive) would require enormous amounts of work to replace existing household heating systems and would require a very big investment in both more electricity generation and the electricity grid. There is no quick, easy way to do this and retrofitting renewable heating (like Heat Pumps) to most existing houses isn’t realistic. So if we’re going to have to make a massive investment, let’s get it right.

The first step is that we must make our houses much more efficient so we don’t need to heat them so much in the first place, so a major programme of insulating and draft-proofing houses is the first step. Then we need to put in place a heating system which will last for many generations, is clean and efficient and inexpensive for households. The best option is a ‘district heating’ system, where heat is generated in lots of different ways (all renewable), collected in a heat store and then distributed to houses as they need it via a network of pipes. Households just need to switch their existing boilers for heat exchangers and the rest of their heating system should work as is. Make no mistake, this is a truly immense engineering project, but so is anything that heats our homes without feeding a climate emergency.

Electricity is more straightforward in Scotland because of our renewable resources – but we’re going to need more of it. To meet future demand and produce enough spare energy to ensure energy security we will need to double the amount of currently-installed renewable generation and put a lot of energy storage in place. But that’s not enough because if we also want to move to clean transport we’ll need more electricity again – in total about three times what we currently have. Thankfully this can all be achieved with onshore and offshore wind in Scotland, leaving our marine energy resources for other purposes. And if we do it right we can take not only all this new energy into public ownership but the existing energy as well – so we control our own energy system.

Which leaves transport. This too is a massive task – we need to replace the entire fleet of petroleum-based transport. It is almost certain the way to do this is to move to electric battery-power for smaller vehicles like cars and vans and to hydrogen for big vehicles like lorries and ferries. But to achieve that we’ll also need all that extra electricity, a source of clean hydrogen and major investment in charging and refuelling infrastructure.

So where do we get our clean hydrogen from? This is where Scotland’s marine energy comes in. At the moment almost all commercial hydrogen produces carbon dioxide, not when it is used but when it is created in the first place by breaking down natural gas. Clean hydrogen is made with electricity and water – but it needs a lot of electricity. Thankfully Scotland has massive wave and tidal energy opportunities and these can be used to make hydrogen for vehicle transport. Even more than that, it can give Scotland a world lead in hydrogen technology and because we have much more marine energy than we need for domestic transport it is also potentially an amazing export opportunity.

Keywords

Pioneering North Sea renewables project unveiled at COP 26

Stephen Richard — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:11:35 +0000

Pioneering North Sea renewables project unveiled at COP 26

Primary Author or Creator

Believe in Scotland

Stephen Richard Mon, 11/15/2021 - 16:11

Alternative Published Date

2021

Category

Renewable energy

Type of Resource

Article

Fast Facts

Offshore wind resources in the North Sea will create thousands of jobs and boost Scotland ‘s ambitions to be a world leader in renewable energy through a plan unveiled at COP 26 in Glasgow.

More details

Offshore wind resources in the North Sea will create thousands of jobs and boost Scotland ‘s ambitions to be a world leader in renewable energy through a plan unveiled at COP 26 in Glasgow.

The Northern Horizons Project will use floating offshore wind turbines to produce green hydrogen which could fuel vehicles or be used in fuel cells to generate electricity during times of the day when the wind resource is low.

Norway’s Aker Offshore Wind, Aker Clean Hydrogen and DNV, consultants who are leading experts in the transition to a hydrogen-based economy, are behind the project, which they say is ‘’a technically and economically feasible plan’’.

It is described as a ‘’response to the Scottish government’s stated ambition to develop Scotland’s potential to export significant quantities of hydrogen’’.

The government is targeting 5GW of hydrogen production by 2030 and is actively looking for international collaboration in the development of a shared hydrogen economy.

This project could start production from 2030 and will ‘’create thousands of jobs and the investment of billions of pounds during construction and operation’’.

Sian Lloyd-Rees, managing director of Aker Offshore Wind UK, said: “This is a technically and economically feasible plan to deliver floating offshore wind at the scale needed to deliver clean energy products which can be used to help decarbonize fuel-heavy industries such as shipping and aviation.”I am proud that DNV has worked on this project that really does show a profitable business opportunity whilst contributing greatly to net zero targets

Ditlev Engel, CEO of Energy Systems at DNV, said: “To meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, the world needs to transition faster to a deeply decarbonized energy system.

“I am proud that DNV has worked on this project that really does show a profitable business opportunity creating economic growth and new job opportunities, whilst contributing greatly to the UK’s net zero targets.”

The project will use floating offshore wind turbines to produce 10GW of energy to power multiple floating installations which will produce green hydrogen which will be transmitted to a net zero hydrogen refinery on Shetland.

Some observers have said COP 26 has seen more announcements that expected on agreements to reduce carbon emissions. Pete Betts, the former EU lead negotiator on climate change, told the BBC: ‘’The mood of the conference is good. The trend towards a zero-carbon world is irreversible. The question is when we get there, and what the climate will be like by then.”

Greta Thunberg: COP 26 ”greenwashing”

Not everyone is as optimistic. Prominent climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg walked out of a panel discussion with former governor of the Bank of England and UN climate envoy Mark Carney shouting “this is greenwashing” .

She has denounced the COP26 summit in Glasgow for being the ‘most excluding COP ever’ and called the international conference a ‘greenwash festival’.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.believeinscotland.org/pioneering-north-sea-renewables-project-unvei…

Keywords

Renewable Energy

COP26

Language English

Why the Oil Barons Can’t Survive a Green New Deal

Stephen Richard — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 12:36:29 +0000

Why the Oil Barons Can’t Survive a Green New Deal

Primary Author or Creator

Craig Dalzell

Stephen Richard Mon, 11/15/2021 - 12:36

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Date Published

Thu, 11/11/2021 - 12:00

Category

Green economy

Type of Resource

Article

Fast Facts

The alternatives to oil are already apparent. The transition to a green economy will remove the demand for almost all oil based products.

More details

Will oil and gas extraction still be a thing at all in a Green New Deal world? I think I’ve shown here that it needn’t be at all. But even in the much more limited “Net Zero” world, the oil barons lose a huge amount of their power and influence.

There is precedence for that kind of economic phase-shift. The early 20th century saw the development of the automobile and signalled the end of the Age of the Horse. Untold numbers of people working in the “Horse Sector” from farriers to livery yards lost their jobs. In 1900, a photo was taken of 5th Avenue in New York, USA. In the traffic there are multiple horse drawn carts and only one car. By 1913, the same street was photographed with multiple cars and only one horse drawn cart. The US A ’s horse population peaked in 1915 and has declined by about 85% in the time since – coincidently roughly the same amount that the oil industry could decline even if all we do is eliminate it as a fuel. Horses still exist, but the industry is now very different from the one that dominated overland transport for millennia before that peak.

So to those who still want to get their hands on “Scotland’s Oil” I want to ask: What does the Scottish oil and gas sector actually look like if we shift the world such that the vast majority of its customers no longer exist? Will the North Sea be economically viable even in the most limited sense if that happens? If we try to keep it pumping, will we lose our economic edge to those countries – like Sweden – who are pushing oil out of even the most intensive “other” uses of oil? The oil barons of the 20th century are on the edge of going the way of the horse barons of the 19th. The choice for Scotland is whether we let them go…or we let them pull us over with them?

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/oil-barons-cant-survive/

Keywords

Oil

Green Economy

Green new deal

Language English

How Scottish independence could re-ignite the north-east energy sector. Open minds on independence #17

Stephen Richard — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 10:06:11 +0000

How Scottish independence could re-ignite the north-east energy sector. Open minds on independence #17

Primary Author or Creator

The National

Stephen Richard Sun, 10/10/2021 - 11:06

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Believe in Scotland

Date Published

Sat, 04/10/2021 - 12:00

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

News Media

Fast Facts

With independence, Scotland could manage a just transition from economic dependence on fossil fuels. And take our rightful place at the heart of developing renewables to power the world.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.thenational.scot/news/19223626.scottish-independence-re-ignite-nort…

Keywords

Renewable Energy

Energy policy

Language English

The key to powering an independent Scotland’s future. Open minds on indepencence #16

Stephen Richard — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 09:59:06 +0000

The key to powering an independent Scotland’s future. Open minds on indepencence #16

Primary Author or Creator

The National

Stephen Richard Sun, 10/10/2021 - 10:59

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Believe in Scotland

Date Published

Fri, 04/06/2012 - 12:00

Category

Renewable energy

Type of Resource

News Media

Fast Facts

Renewable energy holds the key to powering Scotland’s future. Our country is so richly blessed with prized natural resources. It is well-placed to become a key player in the sector.

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.thenational.scot/news/19214026.key-powering-independent-scotlands-f…

Keywords

Renewable Energy

Electricity

Language English

Energy-food nexus in the marine environment: A macroeconomic analysis on offshore wind energy and seafood production in Scotland

Stephen Richard — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 10:56:26 +0000

Energy-food nexus in the marine environment: A macroeconomic analysis on offshore wind energy and seafood production in Scotland

Primary Author or Creator

Yang Qu

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/27/2021 - 11:56

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Tara Hoopera, J. Kim Swales, Eleni Papathanasopoulou, Melanie C. Austen, Xiaoyu Yan

Alternative Published Date

February 2021

Category

Energy

Food production

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Fast Facts

Low-cost offshore wind farms (OWFs) would increase both energy security and GDP.

Subsidising the high-cost OWFs would benefit energy security but not the economy.

Limited negative impacts on seafood sectors by the OWF expansion were identified .

More details

The rapid development of offshore wind farms (OWFs) has stimulated debate about its overall socioeconomic impacts. Expanding the scale of OWFs increases the availability and affordability of electricity but could displace existing fishing activities and reduce food supply. To evaluate these impacts from a macroeconomic perspective, a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is developed, using Scotland as a case study. A particular focus is placed on the disaggregated electricity and seafood sectors, their interconnectedness from an energy-food nexus perspective, and the distributional effects across household groups. This paper explores, from macroeconomic perspective, the trade-offs in the energy-food nexus between expanding OWFs and the seafood sectors, together with the impacts on food and energy security. The results suggest that, through economic linkages, increasing the number of OWFs would have a negative, but limited, effect on seafood production sectors. However, the falling cost of electricity from OWFs would have a positive impact on the economy overall and benefit lower income households, contributing to a reduction in fuel poverty. The model results raise the awareness of nexus linkages between OWFs and seafood production and are applicable to policies involving the development of other offshore renewables.

Energy Policy Volume 149, February 2021, 112027 Paywall

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421520307382

Keywords

Offshore wind

Renewable Energy

Food production

Language English

Life cycle assessment of the carbon intensity of deep geothermal heat systems: A case study from Scotland

Stephen Richard — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 10:47:58 +0000

Life cycle assessment of the carbon intensity of deep geothermal heat systems: A case study from Scotland

Primary Author or Creator

Alistair T.McCay

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/27/2021 - 11:47

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Michael E.J.Feliks, Jennifer J.Roberts

Date Published

Wed, 05/22/2019 - 12:00

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

12pp

Fast Facts

We calculate that the carbon intensity of the heat produced is 9.7–14.0 kg(CO2e) MWh which is 4.9–7.3% of the emissions from heat from natural gas. These values are compatible with Scotland's plans for long term decarbonisation of heat in line with national emission reduction obligations and would likely be compatible with any country's decarbonisation goals.

More details

Science of The Total Environment Volume 685, 1 October 2019, Pages 208-219. Paywall

Resource Address (URL)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719323587

Keywords

Geothermal energy

CO2

Language English

Low-carbon GeoEnergy resource options in the Midland Valley of Scotland, UK

Stephen Richard — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 10:38:29 +0000

Low-carbon GeoEnergy resource options in the Midland Valley of Scotland, UK

Primary Author or Creator

N. Heinemann

Stephen Richard Mon, 09/27/2021 - 11:38

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Alcalde, G. Johnson, J. J. Roberts, A. T. McCay, M. G. Booth

Date Published

Mon, 11/04/2019 - 12:00

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

Academic Paper

Length (Pages, words, minutes etc...)

14pp

Fast Facts

The study suggest that the Midland Valley [of Scotland] represents a viable option in Scotland for the exploitation of the majority of low-carbon GeoEnergy resources.

More details

Scotland is committed to be a carbon-neutral society by 2040 and has achieved the important initial step of decarbonizing power production. However, more ambitious measures are required to fully decarbonize all of the electricity, transport and heating sectors.

We explore the potential to use low-carbon GeoEnergy resources and bioenergy combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) in the Midland Valley area to decarbonize the Scottish economy and society. The Midland Valley has a long history of geological resource extraction and, as a result, the geology of the region is well characterized.

Geothermal energy and subsurface energy storage have the potential to be implemented. Some of them, such as gravity and heat storage, could re-use the redundant mining infrastructure to decrease investment costs. Hydrogen storage could be of particular interest as the Midland Valley offers the required caprock–reservoir assemblages. BECCS is also a promising option to reduce overall CO2 emissions by between 1.10 and 4.40 MtCO2 a−1. The Midland Valley has enough space to grow the necessary crops, but CO2 storage will most likely be implemented in North Sea saline aquifers. The studied aspects suggest that the Midland Valley represents a viable option in Scotland for the exploitation of the majority of low-carbon GeoEnergy resources.

Scottish Journal of Geology, 55, 93-106, 4 November 2019 Paywall present.

Resource Address (URL)

https://doi.org/10.1144/sjg2019-007

Keywords

Geothermal energy

Carbon capture

Language English

Watershed: the Turning Point for North Sea Oil and the Just Transition

Stephen Richard — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 13:48:47 +0000

Watershed: the Turning Point for North Sea Oil and the Just Transition

Primary Author or Creator

Rachel Tansey

Stephen Richard Thu, 09/16/2021 - 14:48

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Friends of the Earth, Oil Change International

Alternative Published Date

September 2021

Category

Energy

Climate change

Type of Resource

Assessment report

Fast Facts

No new oil and gas fields can be approved for development. Given the right policies, a just transition can generate more than three jobs in clean industries for every North Sea oil job at risk

More details

The First Minister claims that early closure of North Sea production would lead to increased imports of more carbon intensive fossil fuels, but this ‘carbon leakage’ argument does not hold water. To begin with, justice and equity require that wealthier countries with higher capacity to support the transition and lower dependence on fossil fuel production – like the UK – phase it out more rapidly.

Additionally, support for the fossil fuel industry – including for CCS – comes at the expense of renewable energy, effectively slowing down the shift to meeting Scotland’s demand with renewable sources. This argument also ignores efforts to reduce demand and increase energy efficiency, and forgets the abysmal record of UK North Sea oil companies at tackling preventable emissions.

Finally, investment in fossil fuel infrastructure now locks us into oil and gas for decades, pushing the UK closer to a ‘deferred collapse’, whereby delayed action and worsening climate impacts forces a sudden and chaotic shutdown, pushing many workers out of work in a short space of time.

To keep within 1.5ºC, in line with equity and climate justice, Scotland needs a just phase-out policy for oil and gas extraction, based on a managed winding down of production in this decade, shaped by affected workers and communities to ensure a just transition, and leaving some of the 6.55 billion barrels in the ground. Given the right policies, a just transition can generate more than three jobs in clean industries for every North Sea oil job at risk. The barriers are not technical, they’re political.

A rational, precautionary and cost-effective approach requires the Scottish Government to end its support for MER, and urge the UK Government to do the same, while redirecting financial support from fossil fuels and CCS to a just transition to a fully renewable Scotland.

Resource Address (URL)

https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Watershed-Report_final…

Keywords

Language English