Scotland at the centre of climate change discussions

28 June, 2010

The Environment Council in Luxembourg recently heard how setting tough emissions reduction targets in Scotland is providing the stability for additional investment in low carbon industries.

Climate change minister, Stewart Stevenson, recently met secretary of state for energy and climate change, Chris Huhne, to agree on the economic case for setting a Europe wide 30% greenhouse gas reduction target. They also discussed carbon capture and storage and the UK Energy Bill.

In a meeting with Lykke Friis, Danish minister for the climate, energy and equal rights, Stevenson discussed co-operation opportunities with Denmark in offshore renewables, environmental planning and wind energy. The Scottish European Green Energy Centre in Aberdeen will follow up these discussions with Danish its counterparts.

Stevenson said, “Scotland's ambition is already setting an example internationally to cut emissions and it is important to take every opportunity to reinforce the message that a low carbon Europe is feasible, affordable and ultimately unavoidable. The Environment Council has heard our case that moving beyond the current 20% emissions reduction target for 2020 is fundamental for European leadership in this area.

"We are working closely with the UK government and others in Europe to put the case that investment in low carbon technologies and industries can bring new opportunities for economic growth."

UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne commented, “This is a new start, with the UK government and Scottish government working together in making the economic case for going low carbon, including cutting EU emissions by 30%.

"I had a very constructive first meeting with Stewart Stevenson before the EU Environment Council where we agreed on the advantages of taking early action. As I saw in Aberdeen recently, Scotland is already benefiting from the low carbon move, in particular with its renewable industry.”

In other news, the potential energy from waste that cannot be reused or recycled has been quantified for the first time in a new report.

The report published by the Scottish government highlights opportunities from the use of various waste to energy technologies. The results indicated that:

* Heat only plants could meet six percent of Scotland’s existing heat needs;

* Electricity production in energy from waste facilities could meet eight per cent of Scotland’s existing electricity demand;

* Combined heat and power waste treatment plants could meet three per cent of Scotland’s total heat and electricity demand.

Energy minister, Jim Mather said, “Our Zero Waste Plan outlines how we can all prevent waste, increase recycling and reuse valuable resources. Yet energy from waste has a part to play in a low carbon society where all efforts have been made to reduce, re-use and recycle valuable resources that would otherwise be buried in landfill.

“This useful report highlights the potentially significant contribution of waste to our heat and electricity needs. Electricity only generation is, however, generally wasteful due to the loss of heat to the atmosphere, so care must be taken to ensure we get the maximum energy output from waste by utilising heat wherever possible.”

Professor Jan Bebbington, vice chair of sustainable development commission Scotland, which compiled the report, said, “Strong performance in waste minimisation and recycling can go hand in hand with the use of energy from waste as part of an integrated strategy. This SDC Scotland report shows what the potential is and helps the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste aspiration move forward. We believe the potential for energy from waste can be developed as part of creating low carbon communities across Scotland.”