Legislation News

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Scotland's £414 million Parliament building has had its own challenges with heating since it opened in 2004, but now the subject is firmly on the political agenda for MSPs

Legally-binding targets to deliver renewable heat in Scotland have been added to the Scottish Climate Change, in a government-sponsored move hailed as "significant and far-reaching" by the renewable energy industry.

Stewart Stevenson, the minister for transport, infrastructure and climate change, along with his SNP colleague Rob Gibson MSP, added measures to the Climate Change Bill that were voted through yesterday by a committee of MSPs.

The measures included the requirement for the Scottish Government to come forward with a national action plan for renewable heat within 12 months of the Bill coming into force, along with a set of targets for a percentage of heat to be produced from renewable sources.

Use of energy for heating purposes accounts for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, and the switch to renewable sources of energy for heat - like wood fuel, solar thermal panels and heat pumps - is seen as "critical" in the fight against climate change.

As well as environmental benefits, industry said that "even modest targets" on renewable heat had the potential to create more than 2,000 jobs, prompting £2.5 billion of investment.

Commenting on yesterday's vote, Mr Gibson, the MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: "These amendments give a renewable heat plan greater strength in the Bill. Along with the government amendment they strengthen the Bill by promoting clear goals for the heat plan and allow Parliament better opportunities to scrutinise progress."

The addition of renewable heat measures came within the second stage of consideration of the Scottish Climate Change Bill by the Holyrood Parliament's Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee.

"Significant and far-reaching" 

Scottish Renewables, the trade association for renewable energy companies in Scotland, welcomed the move as "significant and far reaching", adding that the pursuit of renewable heating had the backing of the industry.

Despite the critical need to support renewable heat, it said the move to sustainable forms of heat energy was "often forgotten" as political attention focuses on electricity and transport, "which are smaller energy sectors".

Jason Ormiston, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: "No Scottish target for tackling climate change can be met unless we increasingly cut the carbon out from the way we heat our homes and workplaces.

"For too long the impact of heating has been lost in the debate on electricity, hidden away in our homes and offices quietly contributing to a huge proportion of our climate change emissions. The change in the law today will make renewable heat centre stage in the action required to deliver on climate change, energy security and fuel poverty," added Mr Ormiston.

MSPs had previously agreed to a target within the Bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% before 2050 - the same as the UK government - but also an interim goal of reducing emissions by 34% by 2020.

Environmental NGOs said only last month that such targets did not go far enough, suggesting that Scotland was already on track to reach emission cuts of 32% by 2020.

An interim target of 50% by 2030 is now on the cards.