The Q4 stats and figures published by the Scottish Government shared that renewables in the country had covered almost 98.6% of all energy consumption in 2020. While this means that the former renewable energy target of 100% renewable by 2020 was narrowly missed, the statistic is still a wonderful step in forward for environmental protection in Scotland and highlights that there was a drop of almost 3.1% between October and December of the year prior.
Nonetheless, the Scottish Government has put in place a new target of generating most electricity from renewable sources by 2030. This is part of the Renewables Routemap 2020-2050, which also looks to implement 60% of heat demand from renewables by 2050. By this time, it is hoped that 50% of all cars will be electric vehicles following another scheme rewarding those living across Scotland to trade in their less environmentally-friendly vehicles.
Further enhancements to the environment and energy sector, championed by Scottish environment minister Roseanna Cunningham, include Government-backed initiatives such as a new £60 million fund for low carbon vehicles; part of an overall focus on improving environmental standards.
“Scotland’s net exports of electricity (exports minus imports) in 2020 was its highest to date at 19.3 TWh, a 21% increase compared to 2019. Scotland’s electricity exports had an estimated wholesale market value of £0.76 billion.” The Scottish Government posted in March of 2021.
It is envisioned that the environment will see a better benefit in this timeframe, with CO2 emissions down by 2.5% (75 million tonnes) and renewable energy up by 11.3%. The number of domestic properties upgraded to be more energy efficient has risen from 1.92 million in 2020 to 3.1 million in 2025; further emphasising the role government initiatives like the Green Deal have played to improve environment standards across Scotland.
Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport, said: “Whilst we do have many challenges ahead of us if we are going to meet our ambitious targets, we have laid the groundwork in 2021 for Scotland to take important leaps forward towards net zero.”
Backlash across the EU as accusations fly regarding the EU’s executive arm attempting to minimize scrutiny by the public after a long delay in their promised “sustainable finance taxonomy” rules being announced late through a proposal at 10pm, New Years Eve.
These investments are made in order to help investors and channel millions of euros into projects that are considered to be set in line with the bloc’s bid to decarbonize its economy.
The large backlash also against the European Union claims that there have been plans made to label nuclear and gas under the same “green” investment umbrella. Regardless, there is now a deadline of Jan 12 for a nominated expert group to respond to the European Union’s draft proposal, with the commission hoping that the final text will be available by the end of that month.
Releasing a statement in press releases on Jan 1st, the EU said that gas and nuclear may be used in the future in order to “facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable based future”. Even after months of debate and lobbying, it is simply argued that these methods can be used as a “bridge” towards a more renewable future.
This is a far cry from the pledge to use renewables for at least 27% of EU energy by 2030 that was reiterated in 2014 by then-commissioner Oettinger. While this may be a lofty goal, it cannot be achieved when current subsidies run counter to such ambitions.
According to one study, the commission’s ‘winter package’ proposals will leave many countries with what is claimed as an unfair level of support for renewable electricity generation. Specifically, Poland and Bulgaria could lose half their capacity under the plans. But while critics say they were prepared for some changes, they claim that ongoing political pressure has left these two countries fighting against any change which would see them gain less benefit than others.
The study, published by information services company IHS, claims that the EU’s 2020 renewable energy targets are “at risk” if changes in regional support schemes go ahead.
IHS predicts that Bulgaria would lose nearly 50% of its current wind power capacity and Poland more than 30%. It also found that Bulgaria would be particularly badly hit in any proposal to cut subsidies for new renewables projects; under the proposals, it could see up to €1 billion (£0.82bn) worth of investment wiped out over the next four years. The country currently has an installed wind-powered generation capacity totalling 1,776MW, which equates to around 6% of Europe’s total at present.
However, while critics have accused industry and environment minister Sigmar Gabriel of acting unilaterally on subsidies for existing projects, the German government has also been accused of breaking its commitments to renewable energy by failing to provide a political framework that would guarantee investors certainty on future renewables policy.
Commenting on the situation, IHS senior analyst Philipp Vohrer said: “The environment ministry’s proposal is a fundamentally different approach which will threaten investor confidence in Germany as well as Europe. While some member states may benefit from this proposal, others such as Bulgaria and Poland will suffer significantly.”