The primary force driving renewable energy deployment in Scotland has been the regional economic development strategy, which aims to transition to a low carbon economy. Scotland has considerable autonomy in energy and rural development policy and this has benefited its renewable energy strategy. Key top-down initiatives are designed to create the infrastructure and environment to support innovation in high-potential technologies, most notably wave and tidal power. Bottom-up efforts like the community renewables policy enhance opportunities for rural development in terms of public service provision and capacity building.
The report finds out four main points: i) Remote rural areas can contribute to renewable energy innovation, serving as test sites for experimental technology like tidal power, smart grids and energy storage systems. ii) Intermediate institutions in rural communities may play a key role in linking renewable energy deployment with development. iii) Scotland illustrates the challenge of harmonising small-scale interventions with large-scale deployment. iv) Taking into account rural dwellers’ preferences for specific renewable energy technologies reduces the cost of deployment.
Related Case Studies
The United Kingdom has a sophisticated analytical framework for analysing green growth benefits. The green growth discussion centres on how to meet long-term greenhouse gas mitigation targets, adapt to the impacts of climate change and deal with other environmental issues while maintaining economic growth.
