Views are being sought on proposals for the sustainable use of bioenergy, including growing crops which can be converted into electricity, heat and fuels.
Bioenergy is already a key component of Scotland’s energy system and is produced by using organic material from trees, plants and food waste as a greener source to replace fossil fuels.
A new strategy sets out how bioenergy can be used to reduce emissions, and proposes using some agricultural land specifically to grow crops which can be converted into bioenergy.
Consultation on the strategy opens today and will run for 12 weeks, seeking views on the opportunities and barriers to using biomass for fuel, as well as the possible use of land to grow the perennial energy crops required for domestic production.
Energy Minister Gillian Martin said: “Bioenergy supports the Scottish Government’s commitment to reach net zero by 2045. Research shows if 90,000 hectares of these crops were planted, this could deliver an amount of energy equivalent to powering around 1.3 million homes a year.
“Realising this potential can help to deliver a just transition for our energy sector, and develop a self-sufficient and secure supply chain to enable us to generate more of this greener energy.
“It is vitally important that people engage on this consultation and give us their views.”
Climate campaigners will march through Edinburgh today (16 /9/ 23) to demand the UK and Scottish Governments develop a plan for a fair and fast transition away from fossil fuels.
The protestors are demanding action to phase out oil and gas in the UK including a halt to controversial projects like the Rosebank oil field and a new gas-fired power station in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
Organisers say there must be a fair and fast transition for the workers and the communities most affected by the move away from fossil fuels and these people should be at the heart of planning this transition to ensure it meets their needs.
The march is one of 400 actions taking place around the world with millions of people involved this weekend ahead of a UN Climate Ambition Summit of world leaders in New York next week.
Scientists, energy experts and climate campaigners agree that there must be no new investment in oil, gas or coal anywhere if the world is to limit further climate breakdown. Despite this the UK Government wants to “max out” new North Sea oil and gas and grant over 100 new licences for further oil and gas exploration.
The march is organised by a coalition of groups including Edinburgh Climate Coalition, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Fridays for Future, Climate Justice Coalition, War on Want, Extinction Rebellion Edinburgh, Scot.E3, Greenpeace Edinburgh and Youth in Resistance.
Steve Gray, a delegate of Aberdeen Trades Union Council who will speak at the rally after the march said: “Aberdeen Trades Union Council welcomes the opportunity to march in solidarity with the climate justice movement and thanks everyone for their support for a just transition for workers employed by the fossil fuel industries.
“The tragic deaths caused by the Stonehaven trail derailment during a storm showed the devastating impacts of a changing climate. Aberdeen Trades Union Council, alongside our STUC allies, recognise that we cannot allow these hazards to multiply and threaten our communities.
“All our gains from free school education to votes for working people and equal pay for women have been won through collective struggles. We can once again win this shared fight and secure decent jobs for people building climate resilient communities in Scotland and around the world.”
Lucia Harrington, Lead Organiser of Fuel Poverty Action who campaign for insulated homes and clean, affordable energy for all commented: “Our households’ resources, and the earth’s resources, are being exploited by the profiteering fossil fuel industry, and this is driving fuel poverty and climate disaster.
“ One of the leading causes of the cost of living crisis was that fossil fuel powered energy companies were allowed to make record profits at the expense of millions of people who are forced to go without heating, hot water and electricity.
“We need a just transition now to an energy system that works for people and the planet. Many workers in the fossil fuel industry want to be part of this transition without losing their jobs and falling into fuel poverty.”
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s oil and gas campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “Millions of people will be in the streets around the world because politicians are failing to deliver the fast and fair transition away from the fossil fuels that are fuelling climate breakdown.
“ The near daily climate disasters we are witnessing from Libya, to Greece to China are driven by the burning of fossil fuels yet politicians are still cheerleading for fossil fuel companies. Rishi Sunak’s plan to ‘max out’ oil and gas will maximise climate destruction while the Scottish Government is considering approving a new gas plant at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire which will lock us into burning fossil fuels for decades to come.”
“Marchers in Edinburgh are calling for a properly planned transition away from oil and gas which is led by the workers and communities most affected. A credible plan to switch to renewables can deliver huge benefits to people such as more affordable energy, secure green jobs, warm homes and a safe climate.”
Climate campaigners have said that BP reporting a tripling of quarterly profits shows that the UK energy system is ‘fundamentally broken.’ The oil giant today announced profits of £6.9 billion ($8.45 billion) in just 3 months.
Meanwhile, energy consultants have forecast that energy bills could reach over £3,600 per household.
BP have said they will use these record profits to pay out to their shareholders as well as buy back shares in the company from investors. Share buybacks are a way of increasing the value of shares for shareholders.
BP continues to invest in fossil fuel projects such as the Murlach oil field which will further ‘lock us into’ this broken energy system for decades, increasing company profits even further at the expense of people and the planet, campaigners say.
Climate scientists and energy experts have warned that we cannot afford any more investment into fossil fuel extraction if we are to limit dangerous climate warming to 1.5ºC.
Recent research revealed the oil and gas industry has made over $52 trillion in profit over the last 50 years.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Oil and Gas Campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “This announcement of yet another obscene profit for BP is a clear sign that our energy system is fundamentally broken.
“Rising energy prices are a key driver of the cost of living crisis which is plunging millions of people in the UK into fuel poverty, yet bosses and shareholders at BP are getting even richer by exploiting one of our most basic needs.”
“BP is also worsening climate breakdown and extreme weather by continuing to invest and lock us into new oil and gas projects for decades to come. Instead of allowing these companies to continue causing social and environmental devastation to boost their profits, we need to overhaul our energy system to rapidly phase out oil and gas.
“A fair and fast transition to renewables must ensure that everyone has access to affordable and clean renewable energy.”
Environmental campaigners and trade unionists have called for MPs to back the creation of an Offshore Training Scheme, as a key solution to removing barriers for oil and gas workers transferring into renewables.
The idea is backed by offshore workers and MSPs from all parties expressed support for an Offshore Training Passport when it was debated in the Scottish Parliament in October 2021.
The Skills and Post-16 Education Bill is making its way through the UK Parliament, with the final vote to take place tomorrow – Monday 21st February. Caroline Lucas MP has tabled three amendments which would require the UK Government to publish a strategy for the creation of an Offshore Training Scheme within a year. Other parties are being urged to back these amendments.
A 2021 survey of 610 offshore workers by Friends of the Earth Scotland, Platform and Greenpeace UK found 97% of workers said they were concerned about training costs. On average, each worker paid £1800 every year to maintain the qualifications required to work in offshore oil and gas. For any worker looking to move into renewables, they are expected to duplicate much of their existing training, at even greater cost.
Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Just Transition Campaigner Ryan Morrison said: “The skills and experience of offshore workers are vital to enable a rapid shift to renewable energy, but workers cannot be expected to fork out thousands of pounds from their own pocket to duplicate qualifications they already have.
“It is time for MPs to listen to these workers by creating a regulated training passport to ensure a just transition for offshore workers. They have a golden opportunity to do exactly that this week by supporting these amendments.”
94% of workers surveyed supported an Offshore Training Passport to standardise training in the offshore energy industry, removing duplication where possible and significantly reducing the burden of costs faced by often self-employed workers. The amendments put forward by Caroline Lucas would achieve the demands of workers in the industry.
RMT Regional Officer, Jake Molloy said: “The urgency of this issue cannot be overstated. The Trade Unions have been banging this particular drum since the oil and gas downturn of 2014 and the industry and their standards bodies have collectively failed the workforce.
“We need an intervention now; we need the political will and support of MPs across the country to address the injustice of having to pay for work, which is the situation faced by thousands of UK workers! All of the talk about a “Just” transition will continue to be nothing more than ‘talk’ if MPs fail to support this initiative.”
+++ Workers case study (Jack is a pseudonym) +++
Jack*, 39, has worked in the industry for 12 years. He works as a LOLER Focal Point for rigs, having worked his way up from being a trainee rigger.
Jack said: “The companies used to pay for your training costs. So you’d have to cover your first lot of training yourself but after that, once you were established with a company, they would pay for your training because they want you to work for them.
“Now it’s very different. You’ve got to cover all these costs yourself, and they need redoing every couple of years so you’re in this constant cycle, and often the courses do overlap. And some of these agencies are making you pay for your own Personal Protective Equipment that you need to work on an oil rig.
“I have thought about working in renewables, but that’d be thousands of pounds you’d have to pay to work in both industries. It’d just be too much, it costs an absolute fortune just to stay in one sector.
“I was paid off last year, so my certificates lapsed. I ended up having to pay £3,000 for training to only get four months of work.
“Shelling out all this money does cause stress, and it does have an impact on your family and your living costs. There’s lots of people worrying about how they’re going to pay the mortgage. I know people who’ve packed it in altogether because working offshore is just too expensive.”
Clean energy and tourism were top of the agenda as UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart took a fact finding trip to Orkney at the end of August.
The Minister met with Orkney Islands Council leaders and key stakeholders as he toured the archipelago to see first hand how it’s using its Neolithic ruins and world leading renewables expertise to deliver a bright future.
He heard how the UK Government’s £50 million contribution to the Islands Growth Deal will help Orkney stay at the cutting edge of green energy and boost tourism.
The £335 million Islands Growth Deal is a partnership between the UK and Scottish governments and organisations across Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.
Among the facilities the Minister visited in Stromness were the Orkney Research and Innovation Campus for renewables research and Aquatera/European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) who have established the Islands Centre for Net Zero to pool efforts in the race to reach net zero.
The Minister met with Highlands and Islands Airport Ltd at Kirkwall Airport to hear about the development of electric planes and saw a Hydrogen Filling Station in action at Hatston, before meetings with council leaders for a discussion on energy, digital connectivity and COP26, which Shetland Islands Council also joined.
He completed his visits with the world famous, 5,000-years-old Skara Brae village and heard about plans to increase visitor numbers to boost the local economy.
Minister Stewart said: “It was a great experience to visit Orkney and I’m delighted the Islands Deal Growth deal is going to help develop the future of the archipelago alongside Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.
“I saw how Orkney has the potential to generate through wind, waves and tides, a vast amount of the renewable energy that the UK needs to get towards net-zero. I really do believe that Orkney can be a trailblazer.
“But it’s not all about the present and future. Skara Brae, a 5000-years-old Neolithic village, is an incredibly important tourist destination, not just in Orkney, but a World Heritage Site.
“I look forward to seeing how, with the help of UK Government funding, experts will develop this as a destination both to make it more sustainable and cope with hopefully ever-increasing numbers as tourism returns after the pandemic.
Regions and nations of the UK blueprint for how NOT to deliver the green jobs revolution, says GMB Union
GMB, the energy union, has said the UK must learn from its own energy and industrial policy failures if it is to set the standard at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
The union’s call comes after Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband said Boris Johnson must take ‘personal responsibility’ for the talks.
Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said: “Climate justice and economic justice must go hand-in-hand -which means delivering the jobs transition to help reach net zero.
“But with the world coming to Glasgow, the UK isn’t any closer to this than it was in 2015.
“The regions and nations of the UK are a blueprint for how not to deliver the green jobs revolution. Look at Scotland and the broken promises of 28,000 offshore wind manufacturing jobs and “a Saudi Arabia of renewables”. Instead supply chains have been starved of work and investment.
“Despite this, our political class persist in playing fast and loose with the futures of energy workers, and with security of supply.
“This is not how you take working class people with you on a journey to net zero.
“The UK can’t set the standards at COP26 unless we start learning the lessons from our own failures on energy and industrial policy.”
GMB Scotland & Unite Scotland: BiFab Administration
BiFab has filed for administration this morning, following the Scottish Government’s decision to withdraw financial guarantees supporting the manufacturing of eight offshore wind turbine jackets for the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) project.
Joint Trade Union Secretaries Gary Smith and Pat Rafferty said:“BiFab’s administration exposes the myth of Scotland’s renewables revolution as well as a decade of political hypocrisy and failure, in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
“The workers and communities dependent on these yards have fought so hard for a future and everyone was hoping that 2021 would finally be the turning point.
“Shamefully the Scottish Government has buried these hopes just in time for Christmas and they have worked together with UK Government in doing so.
“A decade on from the promise of a ‘Saudi Arabia of renewables’ and 28,000 full time jobs in offshore wind manufacturing, we’ve been left with industrial ruins in Fife and Lewis.”
The joint trade unions will comment further in the coming days.
Trades unions, offshore wind developers and supply chain companies have agreed to take urgent action to ensure more Scottish companies benefit from the awarding of contracts for offshore wind projects.Continue reading Offshore wind summit commits to way forward
But the GMB union argues that we need more than renewable energy to keep the UK’s lights on
Community energy can go from strength to strength following a strong year for the sector, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said yesterday. From large scale wind farms to small scale hydro projects, over £10 million was last year ploughed back into communities from renewable sources.Continue reading Ewing hails community energy schemes
‘No place for fracking in Scotland’s energy future’ – Patrick Harvie
Scotland is sitting on enough shale oil and gas to meet our energy needs for the next half-century, according to a new report by the British Geological Survey – but environmentalists are warning that ‘fracking’ to get at shale gas deposits would have serious consequences for local communities.
The British Geological Survey’s report of the resources in the Midland Valley, Scotland, suggests a ‘modest’ amount of gas and oil in place. The central estimate of shale gas in place is 80 trillion cubic feet, the central estimate for shale oil in place is 6 billion barrels of oil.
However ‘modest’, the Department of Energy and Climate Change believes ‘ the complex geology of the area and historic mine workings means that exploratory drilling and testing is even more important to determine how much can be recovered.’
Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon said: “Making the most of Britain’s home grown energy is crucial to keep job and business opportunities, widen tax revenues and reduce our reliance on foreign imports.
“We know that shale gas alone won’t be able to supply all of our energy needs, but the environmentally responsible exploration of shale gas could contribute to our energy mix.
“Only the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom can attract investment in new energy sources and maintain the UK’s position as one of the world’s great energy hubs – generating energy and generating jobs.
“The UK’s energy security is among the best in the world, backed by a large consumer and tax base that can afford to support our world-leading energy industries and make us such an attractive place to invest.”
Professor Mike Stephenson, Director of Science and Technology at the British Geological Survey said: “The central estimate of shale gas in place is 80 trillion cubic feet and the central estimate for shale oil in place is 6 billion barrels of oil but reserves cannot be calculated at this stage before drilling and testing take place. The Midland Valley of Scotland has complex geology and a relative lack of data compared to the previous DECC-BGS Bowland-Hodder and Weald Basin studies”
However Green MSP Patrick Harvie says the study by the British Geological Survey shows that ‘potentially modest’ reserves of shale oil and gas prove that fracking shouldn’t figure in Scotland’s energy future.
He pointed out that the estimated 80 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in central Scotland is just six per cent of the reserves thought to be present in northern England and said a huge swathe of Scotland – from Argyll to Aberdeenshire and from Ayrshire to East Lothian – has been earmarked as ‘ripe for fracking’ by the UK Government.
Mr Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow and Co-convener of the Scottish Greens, said: “This study puts paid to all the hype we’ve been fed about a shale bonanza. Not only would fracking divert attention from our undoubted renewables potential but any economically viable extraction would be modest and short-term. Greens want a long-term energy plan for Scotland, and we have abundant clean sources to do this.
“As communities across Scotland realise the risk to their local environments from the prospect of fracking, and as climate science tells us we must start to leave unburnt fossil fuels in the ground, it’s clear that any such developments will face strong opposition.
“It all serves as a reminder that Westminster controls energy policy in Scotland. The chance to pursue clean, long-lasting power rather than polluting, finite fuels is a compelling reason to vote Yes in September.”
