Renewables displace record amount of carbon

Renewables in Scotland are displacing a record level of carbon – the equivalent of removing all Scotland’s cars, buses, trains and lorries from our roads and railways.

New figures show a total of 12.3 million tonnes of CO2 were displaced in Scotland in 2014 – an increase of 120 per cent increase compared with five years ago.

The SNP’s energy and climate change spokesperson Callum McCaig said the figures show just how productive the industry is, but warned that “the Tory government fixed on destroying the Scottish renewable sector”.

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Joss Blamire, senior policy manager for Scottish Renewables, said the new statistics came at an important time ahead of the Paris climate talks in December.

He said: “We regularly hear Amber Rudd, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, talk about how committed the UK Government is to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and meeting carbon targets, but we need to see that being put into action and a long-term plan set out to support the sector’s continued growth. 

“With only two months to go, it is more important now than ever before to lead by example and place renewable energy centre stage of the forthcoming climate talks in Paris.”

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said the news was proof renewables are the foundation of a low carbon economy.

He said: “While we need to see a change in attitude towards renewables at Westminster, there's still much that we can do here in Scotland. With next year’s elections fast approaching, we look to all parties to continue to back Scotland's clean energy transition by supporting the continued deployment of renewables. With the right policies in place, Scotland could become the first EU country to have an almost entirely renewable generation system by 2030.”

McCaig said: “Scotland’s renewable energy projects, which include wind farms, hydro power and solar, have displaced 12.3 million tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere – which is more than the total CO2 produced by every car, bus, and train journey taken in a year in Scotland.

“This is the highest amount ever recorded in Scotland - up 119% on 2010 when 5,611 million tonnes were displaced – and it would be great to see this trend continue for years to come.

“But with the Tory government fixed on destroying the Scottish renewable sector through the removal of subsidy after subsidy there is a real danger that the industry could start to decline before it has even got going.”