Scottish Government creates plan to deliver on renewables
Elaine Brass
6th July 2009
The Scottish Government has set out how it intends to derive the maximum economic benefit from natural resources through the development of renewable energy – the Renewables Action Plan.
The plan identifies the collective actions needed to be taken by the Government, its agencies and partners to ensure that at least a fifth of Scotland’s energy comes from renewables by 2020 by developing the right infrastructure and boosting skills. It follows a vote last month by the Scottish Parliament to back the world’s strongest legislation to
tackle climate change by cutting the nation's CO2 emissions by 42 per cent by 2020
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney said: "Moving to a low carbon economy presents huge economic opportunities and our Climate Change Bill now commits us to action. Offshore wind, marine energy and renewable heat will now be a key focus due to the potential to generate clean energy, reduce emissions and the associated manufacturing and infrastructure opportunities. Scottish Enterprise and HIE (Highlands and Islands Enterprise) will develop a clear framework for port and land infrastructure to support the manufacturing, construction, and operation of offshore wind, wave and tidal devices.
"Heat from renewables needs to rise 10 fold in the next decade and we will investigate all options to boost the sector, from large scale industrial plants, more energy from biomass and waste, through to microgeneration. We will support growth in, and diversification into, the renewable heat sector with further targeted inward investment.”
The Scottish Government believes that the Renewable Action Plan will kickstart the renewable heat industry to massively increasing take up, identify necessary infrastructure projects and options to deliver renewables and develop the right skills to maximise potential and attract investment.
Swinney continued: "We will take a close look at the skills mix and ensure we can maintain a world class skills base in a rapidly changing technological environment. We will also support the development and co-ordination of supply chains across the renewable technologies to keep maximum economic benefit in Scotland. The plan requires long term collaboration, and that process begins now. The pace of change demands a constantly evolving framework and the plan will be updated and refreshed every six months to take account of the latest developments. That is the way we will stimulate a leading renewables industry and play our part in tackling climate change."