Energy

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

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

Get the future of energy right

Stephen Richard — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 08:42:06 +0000

Get the future of energy right

Primary Author or Creator

Common Weal

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/14/2021 - 09:42

Alternative Published Date

2020

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

Video

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

1:35 minutes

Fast Facts

Energy – electricity, heating and transport fuel – is crucial for the modern Scotland we live in. But it can also be one of our biggest threats if we don’t get them right. It can harm our environment and play a major role in causing the climate crisis. ‘Energy inequality’ can harm the health of those who can’t afford to heat their homes. Scotland is one of the few countries in Europe which does not own its energy publicly and the only one that doesn’t own its own National Grid.

Video 1:35 minutes

More details

Common Weal has published too much work on energy to link to all of it here (three key documents are Powering Our Ambitions, Just Warmth and Carbon-Free, Poverty-Free). But most of it is summarised in the Common Home Plan with sections on energy efficiency, electricity, heating and transport

So what is the vision? 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.

There is no simple solution to our need to clean up our energy, but great opportunities if we do. All that investment creates lots and lots of jobs and economic opportunities in supply chains – but only if we do it right. That’s why we need a proper structure for doing all of this collectively, from the public purse and in the public interest. A National Housing Company can plan and deliver home insulation, a Scottish Energy Development Agency can plan and manage this entire transition and a Scottish National Energy Company can deliver the work and then own our energy system on the public’s behalf.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/big-ideas/get-the-future-of-energy-right/

Keywords

Language English

The Economics of Shale Gas Extraction

Stephen Richard — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 08:15:44 +0000

The Economics of Shale Gas Extraction

Primary Author or Creator

Craig Dalzell

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/14/2021 - 09:15

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Alternative Published Date

April 2016

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

Assessment report

Fast Facts

The potential environmental impacts of shale oil and gas extraction (SGE) by means of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) have been well explored by various groups concerned by this newly prominent technology but rather less well known by campaigners and activists are the economic impacts.

This report looks at key questions regarding the economic structure and impact of the SGE industry and the findings are detailed.

More details

― The SGE market in the US and, so far, in the UK is dominated by larger companies occupying the most profitable licences. There is little scope for community owned or small company development to occupy a significant market share.

― Individual wells become largely non-productive within a few years of development which, due to market demand for constant production, forces companies to continue drilling new wells in new locations at a rapid pace.

― The low recoverable volumes and high capital and running costs of wells may render profit margins comparatively small and extremely sensitive to oil and gas pricing. There appears to be little scope for economic development of SGE in the UK until and unless wholesale prices return to historic highs and even then significant subsidy may be required.

― Communities are likely to be significantly adversely impacted by nearby SGE fields. The concentrated pattern of land ownership and comparatively weak situation of local government renders communities vulnerable to being unable to capture wealth generated by nearby wells whereas the burden of environmental degradation or even simply the threat of such degradation can lead to community stress and negative economic effects.

― The jobs created by SGE appear to be short-lived and highly mobile. The job demographic of the planning, drilling and production phases are each relatively exclusive meaning that they will move to the next site more rapidly than the wells themselves do. This creates the risk of a “Boom-Bust” effect in communities.

― Shale oil and gas is considered a relatively poor source of fuel due to high extraction costs. The UK’s reserves are also likely to have an insignificant impact on global markets and hence a negligible impact on end-user prices.

― Significant externalities have been identified in the form of environmental degradation due to methane leaks. The costs to mitigate these may exceed the lifetime revenues generated by the well which produced them. Further, the UK has a poor record in terms of ensuring adequate decommissioning and restoration bonds which may lead to further public funding being required after the SGE companies have left an area.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/The-Economics-of-Shale-Gas-E…

Keywords

Language English

Incentives and Opportunities Signalled by Transmission Charges in Scotland

Stephen Richard — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 07:46:17 +0000

Incentives and Opportunities Signalled by Transmission Charges in Scotland

Primary Author or Creator

Iain Wright

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/07/2021 - 08:46

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Common Weal

Date Published

Fri, 08/03/2018 - 12:00

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

Scotland is not well served by the UK’s National Grid and the current system restricts the development of Scotland’s renewable energy potential and leads to high charges for Scottish consumers.

More details

― The UK’s National Grid has been designed for an era where the fuel for power plants (chiefly coal and gas) could be transported more efficiently than the generated electricity. This has lead to a system of charging where power stations are incentivised to build close to major population centres such as the South East of England. In numerical terms, energy providers are charged a tariff of around £24/kW to connect a wind generator to the National Grid if the generator is installed in the North of Scotland. However, if the same generator is installed in West Devon and Cornwall, the provider would receive a subsidy of £4.79/kW.

― As renewable generators such as wind turbines must be built where the wind is at its highest power density and as their “fuel” cannot be moved in the way that coal and gas can, the current grid charging system makes no sense for the purposes of encouraging the development of Scotland’s renewable energy potential.

― The grid’s charging system takes no notice of the location of the end-users of the generated power. An energy customer in Scotland must pay the same price for power regardless of whether or not the power they are using is being generated elsewhere in the UK or by a wind turbine nearby.

―High energy intensity users such as aluminium smelters, chemical manufacturers and data centres have little incentive to build renewable generators on-site in order to reduce their energy costs.

― The paper therefore makes the case that the UK’s energy grid is reformed so that it better reflects the energy technology and economic needs of the 21st century. Tariffs should be re-calculated to better encourage the placement of renewable generators in areas where they can operate most efficiently and incentives should be developed to allow industries and communities to benefit from the renewable generators build either by them or on their doorsteps.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Transmission-Charges.pdf

Keywords

National Grid

Renewable Energy

Wind power

Language English

Public Energy Company – Common Weal Consultation Response

Stephen Richard — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 07:40:43 +0000

Public Energy Company – Common Weal Consultation Response

Primary Author or Creator

Keith Baker

Stephen Richard Tue, 09/07/2021 - 08:40

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Gordon Morgan, Ron Mould, Geoff Wood, Iain Wright, Common Weal

Date Published

Fri, 08/10/2018 - 12:00

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

consultation response

Fast Facts

This response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the future of energy in Scotland calls for a publicly owned energy company to generate and deliver energy to the people of Scotland.

More details

Our response states that a publicly owned energy company must be founded on four core principles:

1) It must have the ability and mandate to create new infrastructure platforms.

2) It must accelerate wider energy system reform.

3) It must increase public engagement and participation in the energy market.

4) It must reduce costs to consumers.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Public-Energy-Company.pdf

Keywords

Public energy companies

Energy generation

Community energy generation

Energy market

Language English

Energy Strategy Consultation: Common Weal submission

Stephen Richard — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 13:11:24 +0000

Energy Strategy Consultation: Common Weal submission

Primary Author or Creator

Susan Brush

Stephen Richard Wed, 09/01/2021 - 14:11

Additional Author(s) / Creators

Iain Wright, Gordon Morgan, Common Weal

Alternative Published Date

2017

Category

Energy

Type of Resource

Policy Paper

Fast Facts

This paper

― Recognises the huge economic contribution North Sea Oil and Gas have made to the Scottish economy

― Urges the Scottish Government to add a “just and fair transition” of jobs to the low carbon economy as a priority, and to seek alternative sectors using the skills base and domestic supply chains we have. Alternative sectors are likely to include offshore renewable generation and on-land infrastructure (e.g. district heating, for which we currently import the pipework) as well as decommissioning mature oil wells.

― Has concerns regards the primacy given to the development and commercialisation of CCS, and has questions regards its technical feasibility and cost effectiveness and the implication that fossil fuel plants could be retained longer than necessary. Nevertheless we welcome the EU funding of the Acorn project to test the feasibility of CCS at Peterhead

― Support, in principle, exploration of new non-fossil fuel energy sources, provided they come with safeguards of environmental protection, take cognisance of public opinion, especially of communities affected (both local and communities of interest), and a fair settlement is agreed with local communities.

― Has a specific concern about unconventional oil and gas which includes not only environmental matters and strong public opposition, but the licensing arrangements: that licenses are currently sold by Crown Estates, with no input at a local or Scottish level other than within the Planning process.

― Strongly supports exploration of alternative energy carriers, such as hydrogen.

― Supports the priority of increasing renewable generation.

― Views that the fifth priority, “increasing the flexibility, efficiency and resilience of a future energy system”, as fundamentally essential to underpin whatever future energy system we will have. This matter is complex and merits far greater discussion and we have addressed it at greater length below.

More details

Common Weal warmly welcomes publication of this draft energy strategy and its “Whole System View” that includes both short and longer term targets and visions.

We also welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to honouring climate change targets, showing Scotland is indeed playing a leading and responsible role in the world.

We welcome the quality of public discussion generated by the consultation and we are pleased to take the opportunity to respond to it.

Common Weal fully supports the principles set out in this strategy and agrees with the policy objectives it contains. However we would like to see the intended “Whole System View” adopt a greater degree of integration between energy and industrial development, for example, the creation of demand by energy-intensive users closer to production in northern Scotland. Finding ways to achieve this would reduce the need for the further investment in costly transmission infrastructure that will further drive up the cost of grid connections.

Transformation of the energy system is essential if Scotland is to meet its environmental objectives, so this draft energy strategy is to be commended in addressing the need to look beyond renewable electricity production and towards decarbonisation of transport and heating. In adopting an all-energy approach to strategy development, we believe the Scottish Government is following a path that is most likely to deliver the desired outcomes. In particular, we support an approach that avoids mandating a particular technology mix for energy production, as the strategy has a significant dependency on solutions that are not yet proven at scale. However this was also true of wind generation 15 or 20 years ago and there is no reason to suppose that new energy technologies will not similarly benefit from a supportive energy policy environment.

Common Weal is concerned that the UK Government has placed obstacles in the path of the Scottish Government achieving its carbon free objectives. These range from:

• The privatisation of the energy market in the 1980s which resulted for a long time in a lack of investment in grid infrastructure; • The fact that Energy Policy is a reserved power under the devolution settlement; • The short-sighted changes in energy policy and subsidies;

• The ban on on-shore wind development in England;

• The decision to proceed with the ludicrously expensive Hinkley Point C and other nuclear reactors;

• The lack of flexibility in the charging regime for grid connections which inhibit new Scottish generation in favour of the South of England.

Common Weal believes that these and more of the potential conflicts with the UK Government should be delineated in the strategy so as to make the case for full devolution of energy policy and or Scottish Independence. Indeed we have concerns that unless this is addressed, the ambitious goals set out cannot be achieved.

Nevertheless, Common Weal welcomes the priorities set out in the paper in particular the desire to transform the energy system to one based on carbon free energy and to encourage research and deployment of new sources of energy.

We strongly support the establishment of a Scottish Energy Company which can support local energy cooperatives and smaller public energy companies and provide a level playing field for energy pricing and investment. This should be backed by Energy Bonds and a public investment bank. Indeed if the model for the public energy company was the Danish Energy Agency, which administers energy and supply in Denmark, many of the problems associated with a privatised energy market could be addressed.

Energy is essential for social existence and Scotland is fortunate to have abundant natural resources of wind, wave, tidal, solar, hydro and geothermal to produce this carbon free energy. The challenge is to make it available to all whilst ensuring jobs, social inclusion and democratic control.

Q1 What are your views on the priorities presented in this chapter for energy supply over the coming decades? In answering, please consider whether the priorities are the right ones for delivering our vision. Common Weal wishes to make the following points as regards the priorities listed before addressing other priorities of a more general nature.

Common Weal:

• Recognises the huge economic contribution North Sea Oil and Gas have made to the Scottish economy;

• Urges the Scottish Government to add a “just and fair transition” of jobs to the low carbon economy as a priority, and to seek alternative sectors using the skills base and domestic supply chains we have. Alternative sectors are likely to include offshore renewable generation and on-land infrastructure (e.g. district heating, for which we currently import the pipework) as well as decommissioning mature oil wells;

• Has concerns regards the primacy given to the development and commercialisation of CCS, and has questions regards its technical feasibility and cost effectiveness and the implication that fossil fuel plants could be retained longer than necessary. Nevertheless we welcome the EU funding of the Acorn project to test the feasibility of CCS at Peterhead;

• Support, in principle, exploration of new non-fossil fuel energy sources, provided they come with safeguards of environmental protection, take cognisance of public opinion, especially of communities affected (both local and communities of interest), and a fair settlement is agreed with local communities.

• Has a specific concern about unconventional oil and gas which includes not only environmental matters and strong public opposition, but the licensing arrangements: that licenses are currently sold by Crown Estates, with no input at a local or Scottish level other than within the Planning process.

• Strongly supports exploration of alternative energy carriers, such as hydrogen;

• Supports the priority of increasing renewable generation; • Views that the fifth priority, “increasing the flexibility, efficiency and resilience of a future energy system”, as fundamentally essential to underpin whatever future energy system we will have. This matter is complex and merits far greater discussion and we have addressed it at greater length below;

• Sees Scotland as a potential net energy exporter, but would prioritise meeting Scotland’s own energy and economic needs over large-scale exports. Common Weal wishes to make the following observations about more general priorities.

Integration of Industrial Strategy

The consultation recognises the importance of ensuring security of supply and this would be our overriding priority in the process of delivering the level of transformational change to Scotland’s energy system that this consultation envisages. However, we believe that the value of such an ambitious strategy would be enhanced by a greater emphasis on how a comprehensive energy policy can be used to support wider economic objectives.

Common Weal’s vision for future would include locating energy-intensive industries that can utilise energy with variable output, close to generation sites; allowing supply by direct line from the generator, avoiding the need for a gridconnection, or for a carrier fuel.

So we believe that exploitation of energy resources, of all kinds, should be managed in the context of an industrial policy that seeks to develop energy-intensive industries, such as ammonia/hydrogen production, in a way that avoids incurring Transmission Charges wherever possible. Currently these frequently make the difference between a proposed scheme being viable and not.

This industrialisation strategy is one that has been pursued by Iceland; developing aluminium production and renewable energy resources in tandem. While there are significant differences between a dispatchable, geothermal/hydro-based system and the variable output/distributed generation system in Scotland/GB, the overarching principal of exploiting resource availability to leverage economic development should be the same. Whilst heat generation and storage can take up some of load as per Iceland, the only differences being the likely need for a carrier fuel/ substantive storage in Scotland, to redistribute energy over time.

Resource Address (URL)

https://commonweal.scot/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Energy-Strategy-Consultation…

Keywords

Language English