This section provides an overview of Scottish and UK
policy relating to biomass and the key facts and figures of the
sector:
Scottish Policy Context
2009 Climate Change (Scotland) Act
The Scottish Parliament set Scotland's ambitious climate change
targets:
- 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
- By 2020 11% of non-electrical heat demand is delivered from
renewable sources.
- Click here for more information on the 2009 Climate
Change Act.
Heat Policy Statement - 2015
The Scottish Government's most recent Heat
Policy Statement was published in 2015 and acknowledged heat is
at the core of Scotland's energy system. The Statement notes heat
is:
"…. the biggest element of our
energy use (over 55%), and the largest source of our emissions
(47%). We spend £2.6 billion annually on heating and cooling our
homes and businesses in Scotland. The Scottish renewable heat
sector is growing with an estimated turnover of £2.7 billion by
2020."
If the 2020 Scottish renewable heat target is going to be met
(11% of non-electrical heat demand from renewable sources) then
6,420GWh of renewable heat output are needed by that date.
The Government recognise that this target remains challenging.
If the biomass heat sector constitutes the same proportion of
our renewable heat in 2020 as now and we meet the 11% target;
then we calculate an additional 2,000GWh of biomass output must be
provided by 2020. Nationally that means 768MW of new biomass
capacity must be added, representing hundreds of millions of pounds
of capital investment and a massive growth in the fuel supply
chain.
Source: Renewable Heat in Scotland 2015 (Source:
Energy Savings Trust)