Well Rounded View
We understand how important it is for lawyers to have a well rounded view, to be well informed and to be able to base legal advice on that knowledge. Our legal advice and services fit into our clients’ bigger picture. In this section of our website we invite a leading business man or woman to share their views.
Renewable Energy - wind of change? or just hot air?
by David Gordon, Chief Executive, Windsave Limited
Going green can bring enormous economic benefits. Our renewable energy industry has the potential to generate billions of pounds and create tens of thousand of jobs. It will help tackle fuel poverty and ensure a clean and secure energy supply. Carbon dioxide emissions can be cut and we can be weaned off our increasingly expensive fossil fuel dependency. Our specific geographical advantages here in Scotland can provide key opportunities in research, innovation and development.
In the UK, there are some 26 million households. Can you imagine the positive contribution that could be made by each one of these homes reducing power consumption through the use of microgeneration?
Whilst so much attention is focused on large-scale solutions like nuclear power and offshore windfarms, the anxiety of the ordinary citizen to contribute to solving the problems of climate change is overlooked. Raising awareness allows consumers to make informed choices and helps them identify safe and reliable products. Manufacturers and retailers are then able to differentiate between suitable and unsuitable products. It may well be that governments, businesses and individuals worldwide need to work together in order to meet the challenges that face us all.
Microgeneration products - including microwind turbines, solar thermal, solar PV and ground source heat pumps - should be used in appropriate environments in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions and costs, and also to reduce reliance on the National Grid.
Consumers are focusing on reducing their fuel costs, and microgeneration is indeed capable of contributing serious amounts of energy. With energy prices rising all the time, and supplies of oil and gas diminishing, I believe it is incumbent on individuals and communities to do what they can to generate their own power and heat as far as possible in order to save costs and save the planet.
The Government recently produced proposals likely to include up to a third of electricity coming from renewables, and this will open a new chapter in Britain's history as a nation of enterprise and innovation, moving from the old, carbon-intensive economy of the industrial revolution to the new low carbon technologies of the 21st century. This vast expansion of renewable energy will play a crucial role in tackling climate change and reducing our dependency on oil and gas. We must make the most rapid progress possible to becoming a cleaner, greener economy in the most effective way possible, with least cost to consumers. Britain can make the most of its strengths as one of the world's largest manufacturing economies, a world-class centre of energy expertise and a leading location for inward investment.
Microgeneration, at the moment, is a complement to and not a substitute for fossil fuels. Current technologies are not suited for base-load generation and therefore will be only part of a broader fuel mix, which will continue to include fossil fuels and nuclear for some time to come. However, we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels from geopolitically volatile areas, consequently enhancing energy security.
At the moment there are approximately 90,000 solar water heating systems in Britain but the Government believes that, with the right incentives, this could increase by 40% a year. By 2020 it suggests there could be up to seven million solar heating systems installed on the roofs of buildings, with one in four households generating their own hot water from the sun.
It is also anticipated there could be a 90% increase each year in the installation of ground and air source heat pumps which provide "free" heat by tapping the warmth in the air or the earth. 14% of all UK heating could be generated locally in this way by homes and businesses.
The UK household sector presently accounts for 27% of total UK emissions of carbon dioxide. Microgeneration technologies have the potential to make a significant contribution to energy policy goals of tackling climate change, ensuring reliable energy supplies, and providing affordable energy.
Microgeneration covers a diverse set of technologies that have the potential to supply energy at - or close to - the point of demand, with higher efficiency and/or lower associated CO2 emissions than conventional means of supplying heat and/or electricity.
If one single pan-European standard could be adopted for microgeneration products, for example International Microwind Safety and Performance Standards, we could ensure minimum standards are met and the industry would be protected from sub-standard products, consequently safeguarding the industry’s reputation. Solar Keymark is a good example of a respected EU level standard covering the solar thermal industry.
We all know that the world is round, but there was a time when there were sceptics who fervently believed the world was flat. The renewables industry is still in its infancy, and there are bound to be those who do not believe in the efficacy of renewable energy because we have perhaps not had long enough to convince the general public that our products do work. There is currently a great deal of negativity in the media, which continues to influence the general public against renewable energy. We appreciate that the renewables industry as it stands cannot completely replace power generated by fossil fuels or nuclear. However, it can - and will - contribute greatly to the power needs of the world.
David Gordon
Chief Executive, Windsave Limited
August 2008
View David Gordon's biography
View our Renewable Energy Service
Contact Richard Leslie, Head of Tods Murray's Renewable Energy team