Archive for July 2012
Scotland’s Renewable Energy Output at Record Levels
July 23, 2012 | 
Author Scotland on track for 2020 100% equivalent target
Figures issued lasrt month show that output from renewables in quarter one 2012 increased by 45.5 per cent on the same period the year before.
Provisional figures from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that renewable electricity generation in Scotland was 4,590 gigawatt hours (GWh) in the first quarter of 2012, up 1,435 GWh on Q1 2011.
The provisional figures also show an increase of 9.8 per cent or 435 megawatts (MW) in installed renewables electricity capacity in Scotland in Q1 2012 compared to Q1 2011.
DECC also issued revised statistics for 2011 which show that renewable electricity generation in Scotland was 13,735 GWh in 2011, a record high level, up 44.3 per cent on 2010, and up 97.3 per cent on 2006.
The revised 2011 figures continue to show good progress towards the Scottish Government’s 2020 target of the equivalent of 100 per cent of electricity demand coming from renewables.
Assuming gross consumption in 2011 was similar to 2010, that means around 35 per cent of Scotland’s electricity needs came from renewables in 2011, beating the Scottish Government’s interim target of 31 per cent.
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Islay Limpet Wave Power Station
Islay’s Limpet has been feeding wave energy into the grid since 2000
You may think wave power is brand new and untested, but on the island of Islay a shoreline wave energy converter has been generating power for the national grid since 2000. This video demonstrates clearly how Islay’s Limpet power station works:
Previous articles:
Wave Power – A Tried And Tested Technology
Hydrogen In Scotland – Nearly Ready To Go?
All-Energy 2012 was a turning point for Hydrogen in Scotland.
View ITM Power’s video featuring Quentin Willson . . .
Related Articles
Hydrogen – fuel of the future?
The Hydrogen Office – one year on
What Is The Point Of Scottish CO2 Targets?
Why bother when China is building new coal fired power stations . . .
Another place, another argument with someone who wants to know how much CO2, on a global percentage basis, will be removed from the atmosphere if Scotland meets her 2020 targets. The argument is that with emissions from China and other developing nations continuing to rise our contribution to the solution is miniscule and insignificant.
It is certainly true that Scotland’s overall global contribution to CO2 reduction will be a very small number as a percentage. It will however be disproportionately large compared to her population. To me this is something for Scotland to be proud of. To continue pouring pollutants into the atmosphere just because other people are is not the mark of a civilised country.
It is important to remember that the majority of anthropogenic CO2 currently in the atmosphere and causing the problem is not China’s, it is the USA’s and Europe’s.
Cumulative CO2 emissions between 1850 and 2007
1. US: 339,174 MT or 28.8%
2. China: 105,915 MT or 9.0%
3. Russia: 94,679 MT or 8.0%
4. Germany: 81,194.5 MT or 6.9%
5. UK: 68,763 MT or 5.8%
6. Japan: 45,629 MT or 3.87%
7. France: 32,667 MT or 2.77%
8. India: 28,824 MT or 2.44%
9. Canada: 25,716 MT or 2.2%
10. Ukraine: 25,431 MT or 2.2%
China at 105,915m metric tonnes of CO2 has a long way to go to catch up with the cumulative totals of the West, and may (hopefully) never do so.
So – our focus on emissions reductions is in part an acknowledgement of the historic burden we have placed on the planet, and of course ‘pour encourager les autres’.
Of all the reasons for not doing anything about our emissions this is perhaps the most pathetic. We create a problem then either refuse to acknowledge it or blame it on China. Time to man up.
Marine energy park welcomed – but still just a drop in the ocean
Osbourne’s dash for gas ‘must be stopped’ says FOE
Welcoming the launch today (Monday 30 July 2012) of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters in the North of Scotland as a Marine Energy Park, Friends of the Earth Energy Campaigner Guy Shrubsole said:
“Renewable energy projects such as this are exactly what are needed to reduce the nation’s reliance on dirty and increasingly expensive gas and create thousands of new jobs.
“This Marine Energy Park is just a splash in the ocean – the potential of clean British energy is enormous.
“But, the push to build a clean and affordable future is under threat from George Osborne’s reckless drive for more gas-fired power stations.
“A new dash for gas will have a damaging impact on household fuel bills and UK climate targets – the Chancellor must be stopped.”