Energy
Low-carbon GeoEnergy resource options in the Midland Valley of Scotland, UK
Author / Creator: N. Heinemann
Media type: Academic Paper
Date published:
The study suggests that the Midland Valley [of Scotland] represents a viable option in Scotland for the exploitation of the majority of low-carbon GeoEnergy resources.
Watershed: the Turning Point for North Sea Oil and the Just Transition
Author / Creator: Rachel Tansey
Media type: Assessment report
Date published: September 2021
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
Get the future of energy right
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: Video
Date published: 2020
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
The Economics of Shale Gas Extraction
Author / Creator: Craig Dalzell
Media type: Assessment report
Date published: April 2016
Wells become non-productive within a few years, requiring ever more to be drilled. Profit margins are small so require high oil and gas prices. Community stress and negative economic effects are likely. The jobs created are short-lived and highly mobile.
Incentives and Opportunities Signalled by Transmission Charges in Scotland
Author / Creator: Iain Wright
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
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.
Public Energy Company
Author / Creator: Keith Baker
Media type: consultation response
Date published:
A publicly owned energy company to generate and deliver energy to the people of Scotland is necessary.
Energy Strategy Consultation
Author / Creator: Susan Brush
Media type: consultation response
Date published: 2017
This paper
― Urges the Scottish Government to add a “just and fair transition” of jobs to the low carbon economy.
― Has concerns about continued use of fossil fuels and carbon capture.
― Strongly supports exploration of alternative energy carriers, such as hydrogen.
― Supports the priority of increasing renewable generation.
― Views that increasing the flexibility, efficiency and resilience of a future energy system as fundamentally essential to underpin a future energy system
Renewables Scotland 2030: A discussion paper on how to transform Scotland’s energy sector by 2030
Author / Creator: Craig Berry
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published: February 2018
Scotland needs an energy infrastructure to adequately exploit renewable sources at a level to meet the variety of demands likely to be demanded. To do this it needs an energy agency at government level,.
Scottish Building Regulations: Review of Energy Standards
Author / Creator: Linda Pearson
Media type: consultation response
Date published:
All new buildings in Scotland should be constructed to passive and zero-carbon standards. All buildings should be surveyed immediately and assessed on their maximum feasible retrofitting potential. They should then be scheduled to be retrofitted to that potential in a single project.
Energy Performance Certificates: An Alternative Approach
Author / Creator: Keith Baker
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
There is an urgent need to understand the highly significant uncertainties around both the ratings and the appropriateness of the improvements recommended by EPC assessments. The alternative approach is based on the fundamental principle of maximising the use of real data in order to provide buyers and tenants with accurate, robust, relevant, and useful information.
The Future of Low Carbon Heat For Off-Gas Buildings
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
The primary barrier to the roll-out of low carbon heat is financial. Efficient schemes will have to be government financed. Biofuels may play a significant role in rural heating where they can seamlessly replace off-grid heating without the need to install new infrastructure.
Energy Efficient Scotland Consultation
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: consultation response
Date published: June 2019
Energy Performance Certificates are inadequate due to the severe shortfalls in the methodology. Mandatory improvements should be made when there are changes. Collective energy efficiency improvements such as installing heat networks or the economies of scale can only be done by collective action at government level.
Energy Efficiency in the Private Rented Sector
Author / Creator: Keith Baker
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published: August 2019
The Scottish Government has significantly under-estimated the financial, resource and time costs involved in using Energy Performance Certificates as a basic measure of energy efficiency. The financial penalties are far too low and are unlikely to force the changes required.
Consultation on Distribution Futures Energy Scenarios
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
The use of electric vehicles is over-estimated due to changing work patterns. Private vehicles should be discouraged from city centres to concentrate on public transport and active travel. District Heating Systems offer better outcomes with less strain on the electrical grid than heat pumps. New buildings need to be constructed to passive energy standards.
Scottish Offshore Wind. Strategic Investment Assessment.
Author / Creator: Maf Smith
Media type: Assessment report
Date published: August 2021
This independent report gives:
• A summary of the status of the offshore wind supply chain in Scotland
• A Map of future deployment
• Scenarios of potential economic impact
• Recommendations for immediate action
Carbon-Free, Povetery-Free: Heating Options for Rural Scotland
Author / Creator: Ron Mould, Craig Dalzell, Jonathan Shafi
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
Fuel poverty is not only worse in rural Scotland than in urban Scotland, it also has different characteristics. Fuel poverty plays a much larger role in rural poverty than in urban poverty. By far the biggest driver of this fuel poverty is not being on the gas grid.
Just Warmth: Developing equitable and Sustainable District Heating Systems in Scotland
Author / Creator: Keith Baker, Ron Mould
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
Scotland heats the majority of its homes and buildings in inefficient and deleterious efforts to become a net zero-carbon nation. Much more effective than individual boilers would be a system of District Heating Systems (DHS). These DHS networks could be supplied with a variety of sources such as biomass, solar thermal or industrial waste heat.
Powering our Ambitions: the Role of Scotland's National Energy Company and the Case for a Scottish Energy Evelopment Agency
Author / Creator: Keith Baker
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published:
A call for the Scottish Government to launch a National Energy Company and a Scottish Energy Development Agency. These bodies would work together to rapidly and strategically decarbonise Scotland’s energy network whilst also supporting community energy projects and developing the new skills and technologies Scotland – and the world – will need to face the challenges of climate change and fuel poverty.
Scotland is a Powerhouse of Renewable Energy
Author / Creator: Scottish National Party
Media type: Video
Date published:
Scotland generates more renewable energy that it uses.
Better than This
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: Policy Paper
Date published: 2021
We must emerge from the Covid pandemic in a way that
Fixes the problems raised by the crisis.
Fixes the problems evident before the crisis and makes us resilient.
Implements a green new deal.
Establishes a new democracy.
Begins a national care service.
Starts land reform.
Creates a housing revolution.
Controls our own energy.
Provides better banking
Focus on independence.