Scotland, renewable energy and the independence debate: will head or heart rule the roost?

Cowell, Richard John Westley ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1639-8004, Sherry-Brennan, Fionnguala, Ellis, Geraint and Strachan, Peter 2013. Scotland, renewable energy and the independence debate: will head or heart rule the roost? The Political Quarterly 84 (1) , pp. 61-70. 10.1111/j.1467-923X.2013.02431.x

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Abstract

Political support for renewable energy development, especially offshore renewables, is particularly conspicuous in Scotland and is a centrepiece of SNP policy. However, this is built on something of a paradox because, put simply, without the subsidies paid by electricity consumers in the rest of the UK, the Scottish Government's ambitious targets for renewable energy would be politically unachievable. We argue in this paper that if Scotland does move towards independence, then there could be little reason for the UK to continue paying (much) of the subsidies since the resulting renewable generation would no longer contribute towards UK renewable energy targets. We suggest that the potential scenarios, and their implications, needs to be far better considered in the arguments around the Scottish constitutional position and the broader aims of UK energy policy.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Scotland; Independence; Devolution; renewable energy
Publisher:	John Wiley & Sons
ISSN:	1467-923X
Funders:	ESRC
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2022 08:33
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/53387

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