The Scottish Government

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1. Introduction

The imperative for action to address climate change is driving development across a host of policy interests. With Scotland's world-leading Carbon Reduction target of 42% by 2020, the country is set for a decade of unprecedented activity in this sphere.

Of the 4 transformational outcomes identified in the Climate Change delivery Plan, 2 fall within the scope of the Renewable Action Plan:

• the decarbonisation of electricity supply by 2030, primarily through renewable generation,

and

• a largely de-carbonised heat sector by 2050, including a massive increase in the use of renewable or low carbon heating.

En route to these longer term outcomes, the Scottish Government's Climate Change delivery plan identifies the primary Electricity and Heat milestones for 2020 as more than 50% of electricity and 11% of heat from renewable sources.

The Renewables Action Plan sets out a framework for action in the specific area of renewable energy, and includes a sectoral routemap for renewable heat. It is consistent with the 50% and 11% targets for 2020, both of which are regarded as indicative interim ambitions, which will clearly need to be exceeded in due course.

Energy efficiency and sustainable transport sit alongside decarbonising the electricity and heat supplies as key objectives. Waste policy, land use, planning, construction - these are some of the specific areas, too, where change over the next decade will be required to deliver against the stretching targets for emissions reductions.

The Renewable Action Plan is not intended to cover the entire spectrum of activity relating to climate change mitigation, other principal strands of which are being led by the Scottish Government as follows:

Energy Efficiency Action Plan due to publish by December 2009

Improving energy efficiency is widely recognised as the most cost effective means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and needs to be pursued in parallel with measures to increase renewable energy use. Our Climate Change Bill includes a mandatory provision to introduce an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland. The Scottish Government will also establish an Energy Efficiency Programme Board to monitor the development and implementation of the plan.

Renewable Heat - Action Plan to publish summer 2009

A sectoral routemap for Renewable Heat is included in the current Renewables Action Plan. This critical policy area will be addressed in more detail in the forthcoming Renewable Heat Action Plan ( RHAP) which is now mandated under the Climate Change Bill.

Low Carbon Vehicles - consultation in summer 2009

The Scottish Government consulted on renewable fuels for transport last year as part of the Renewable Energy Framework ( REF). The next step is our consultation on Low Carbon Vehicles ( LCVs), which is being undertaken this summer. This LCV consultation considers how the public sector and the wider Scottish fleet will make greater use of low carbon vehicles and alternative fuels, posing questions around vehicles powered by renewable electricity and other sources of renewable energy. It also demonstrates why emissions from road transport must be addressed, and how low transport technologies and renewable fuels are expected to play an important part in helping to ensure that 10% of Scotland's transport fuels come from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Carbon Capture and Storage ( CCS) - development of sectoral routemap by end of 2009

CCS and clean coal technologies represent an enormous opportunity for Scotland. The first comprehensive study of CCS to be undertaken in the UK (published on 1 May 2009) found that Scotland has the ability to safely accommodate industrial emissions generated in Scotland and North East of England for the next 200 years, and that our offshore storage capacity for carbon emissions is greater than the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany combined. The route map will expand on the steps required to leverage the knowledge and expertise in our universities and industry, the infrastructure in the North Sea, and government leadership to make this happen.

Purpose of the RAP

As with all these areas, the pace of change in renewables is rapid, and depends on the coming together of both public and private sectors in areas such as technology, finance, legislation, research, and leadership and coordination. The purpose of this plan is therefore to:

• identify what needs to happen and by when to achieve objectives;
• focus on the actions needed over the immediate 24 month period;
• establish in the public domain what will effectively become a live document - a portal for the development of the sector, subject to ongoing input and revision as new opportunities arise, as technology moves forward, and as new requirements become apparent.

FIGURE 1: MAIN PRINCIPLES

In developing a renewables action plan for Scotland, we have been mindful of 6 main principles:

• that the extent & richness of Scotland's low carbon energy potential provides enormous opportunities for sustainable economic growth, coupled with the creation and retention of more wealth in Scotland;
• that security of energy supply from renewables and clean coal and gas can be achieved, hand in hand with the creation of employment, wealth and investment;
• that we are not only wholly in step with international developments in this area, but in many concrete ways we are ahead of the game. Scotland is already taking a leadership position Europe-wide on renewables, and that is a position we are setting out to bolster, to the benefit of our economy, and the international climate change agenda;
• that progress will depend on the evolution of an unprecedented partnership between government, industry and the wider public sector. Meeting the global CO2 reduction challenge will require the increasing integration of systems for planning and support, for regulation, for environmental protection, for project deployment and skills development, involving all the current bodies active in this sector and more;
• that it is neither possible, nor desirable, for Government to direct operations. To achieve the required degree of join up between multiple agencies and organisations, Government therefore needs to act in a coordinating, facilitative role, against a set of clearly defined leadership objectives;
• that the pace of change is enormous. A renewables action plan produced as recently as 8 months ago would have been blind to the outcomes of the Crown estate territorial waters round - yet we are now gearing up to facilitate the development of up to 6.4 GW of off-shore wind through this process.

Leading the way - our renewables objectives:

• to maximise the economic, social and environmental potential of Scotland's renewables resource, across different technologies;
• to establish Scotland as a UK and EU leader in the field;
• to reduce the time for renewables to become cost-effective;
• to ensure maximum returns for our domestic economy, in terms of jobs created, company wealth and IP generated, inward investment secured, and tonnes of carbon saved;
• to meet our targets for energy from renewables, and for emissions reductions, to 2020 and beyond;
• to maximise the confidence of developers, investors, and the workforce that these are unambiguous, long term commitments - Scottish Government-led, but with durable cross-party political backing;
• to ensure an advantageous integration between the activities of the Scottish Government, the UK government, and Europe.

Policies for delivery focussed on:

• understanding the needs of the sector, from individual company to trans-national infrastructure level, and putting in place the right support mechanisms to meet them;
• coordinating and facilitating the highest degree of partnership working across the public sector, and providing the most coherent interface possible with the private sector;
• developing, welcoming, and enabling the strong overseas interest and investment in the Scottish low carbon economy;
• promoting innovation through RDD&D (Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment) funding and associated delivery programmes;
• communicating the opportunities - to investors, to developers, to communities, to supply chain companies, and to the labour market;
• contributing to a clear proposition for renewables UK-wide which recognises and caters to Scotland's outstanding natural and supply chain advantages.

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