The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Chapter 2 Energy use in Scotland

2.1 The supply of energy is essential to heat and light homes, deliver public services, run businesses, power appliances and to transport goods and people. This Chapter outlines some key facts on energy use and carbon dioxide emissions in Scotland. Unless otherwise stated, data from the Scottish Energy Study is used to provide information on how energy use has changed in recent years. In some cases, the most recent comparisons are for 2002, therefore, we have commissioned further research to update these figures for the most recent available data (2004), and this will become available during 2007.

2.2 In 2002, Scotland consumed approximately 176 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy resulting in emissions of around 12.02M tonnes of carbon. In addition, Scotland generated a further 8 TWh of electricity, which was exported to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Figure 2.1 shows the domestic sector as the largest energy consumer, with the transport sector second, and the industrial sector (including primary and secondary industries) third. The services sector (including service industries and the public sector) consumes the lowest amount of energy.

Figure 2.1 - Energy consumption by sector (2002)

2.3 Compared to 1990 (the only previous year in which comprehensive energy data for Scotland is available), overall energy consumption is very similar - Scotland consumed approximately 180 TWh, which was responsible for around 12.56M tonnes of carbon equivalent. Despite these similar headline figures for overall energy consumption, there are substantial differences in the fuels that are used and the sectors that are using them.

2.4 Recent figures show that Scotland's net carbon dioxide emissions (taking account of emissions and removals due to land use) have fallen by 14% since 1990, from 17.6M tonnes of CO ₂ in 1990 to 14.86M tonnes CO ₂ in 2004 (see Figure 2.2).

Fig 2.2 Greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland (tonnes carbon equivalent)

(Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Scotland: 1990-2004)

2.5 Scotland's carbon dioxide (CO ₂) emissions have fallen in recent years in relation to a rise in GVA, as shown in Figure 2.3. An Index of CO ₂/ GVA where both measures are indexed to 2003 at a value of 100 shows a fall of 31% from 1990 to 2004. (The CO ₂ emissions data does not include that relating to land use as sources and sinks from land use CO ₂ are not considered to relate to economic activity).

Fig 2.3 CO ₂ emissions and GVA in Scotland

(Source: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory: Greenhouse Gas Inventories for Scotland: 1990-2004 and ONS Regional Accounts, Economy statistics, NUTS1 GVA 1989-2005)

2.6 In 1990, final energy use was dominated by oil-based fuels (46%) with gas at 28% of total supply, however since then, there has been a large decline in the use of solid and oil-based fuels and a growth in the use of gas, electricity and renewable energy. In 2002, oil and gas were the major forms in which energy was consumed (both at 37%), with 21% of energy consumed coming from electricity, and the remainder from solid fuels and renewables. The changes in fuel use are detailed below:

Table 1 - Comparison of energy consumption in Scotland by fuel type and by sector, detailed as TWh of total consumption for each year and percentage change between years.

2.7 From a sectoral perspective, energy consumption has grown in the domestic and transport sectors in the last 12 years, and these are now the top two energy users. Demand has also increased slightly in services but has reduced significantly in industry. The comparisons are shown below:

Figure 2.4 - Energy Demand by sector, 1990 comparison with 2002

2.8 In 1990 the industrial sector in Scotland was the largest consumer of energy (35%), whereas in 2002, the sector dropped to third position consuming 26% of total energy in Scotland. This represents a decline of more than 9% relative to total consumption, and a decline of 26% relative to 1990 industrial consumption.

2.9 Changes in the patterns of energy consumption can be attributed to a variety of factors, including changes to the urban and rural mix of the population, fuel/transport switching, behavioural changes and changes to the industry base, for example, the economy is moving away from traditional heavy engineering and manufacturing industries and is seeing a growth in the less energy intensive service-type businesses.

2.10 Domestic sector consumption is rising more rapidly than the rest of the Scottish economy and is now the single largest energy user - in 2002 the sector accounts for 34% of all energy use. Scottish domestic energy use per capita is higher than the average for the UK. Energy used in the domestic sector in Scotland accounts for over 10% of the total UK domestic consumption, however Scotland only has 8.5% of the UK population. This is because Scotland has a colder climate, fewer useable daylight hours and fewer homes with access to the gas grid. Although gas is more limited than in the rest of the UK (25% of homes in Scotland are without a mains gas supply), it is still the main fuel used, currently meeting over 60% of the sector's energy demand.

2.11 Heating and lighting buildings consumes a significant proportion of energy used in the domestic sector - typically about 60% of energy is consumed in space heating, 20% for heating water and the remainder for domestic appliances and lighting. Although reductions have been made in energy use through more efficient heating systems and better insulation, this is often offset by an increased demand for new electrical appliances. Appliances and lighting currently show the greatest growth in domestic energy use (mostly as electricity), currently growing at around 2% per annum.

Figure 2.4 - UK electricity consumption by household domestic appliances by type

(Source: DTI Energy Consumption In The United Kingdom and the Environmental Change Institute)

[N.B. Typical appliances found within each broad type include: Lighting (light bulbs, Fluorescent strip, Halogen bulbs, Incandescent bulbs, etc); Cold (fridge freezer, refrigerator, etc); Wet (washing Machine, dryers, dish washer, etc); Brown ( TV, video/ DVD players, set top boxes, telephone chargers, etc); Cooking (electric ovens and hobs, microwaves, kettles, toasters, etc); Miscellaneous (central heating pumps, DIY equipment, garden equipment, hair care equipment, etc).]

2.12 Overall electricity consumption due to household appliance use has increased over the last thirty years. As figure 2.4 shows, electricity consumption across a range of products has increased. This can be attributed to a number of factors, including the increase in the amount of appliances owned and the introduction of standby features on some electronic goods. The increase in lighting energy consumption has been mainly due to the shift away from rooms lit by single ceiling bulbs towards multi-source lighting from wall and table lamps as well as multi-ceiling lights. The recent fall in energy consumption from the late 90's can be attributed to the introduction of increased energy efficient appliances and energy labelling.

« Previous | Contents | Next »