Scotland’s onshore wind energy generation, impact on natural capital & satisfying no-nuclear energy policy

A Shepherd,S Roberts,G Sünnenberg,A Lovett,A.F.S Hastings

doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2021.10.063

Abstract

Onshore wind electricity generation is key to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Poorly sited wind farms degrade high carbon soils and habitats, diminishing overall emission reductions. We explore the viability of the Scottish Government’s renewable energy plan with respect to land use, natural capital and low carbon storage. With avoidance of sensitive peatlands a main consideration, six constraining factors were combined to determine areas of least habitat and soil sensitivity to onshore wind development in Scotland. Currently, 14 out of 21 terrestrial habitats have been impacted by installation of 389 onshore wind sites. Accounting for 73% of the total area, Coniferous Woodland, Acid Grassland, Bog, and Heather Grassland have been the largest habitats impacted. The most common soils of the least sensitive areas available for installation are brown earth and podzols, and construction of new wind farms on environmentally sensitive areas can be minimised by targeting relatively disturbed habitats such as improved grasslands. Scotland has a potential of 2.75 Mha of relatively low sensitive land, the largest areas sited in the Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway and Aberdeenshire. Additional to current installed capacity (13.9 GW), Scotland would require 6.6 GW of installed onshore wind capacity to function without nuclear energy generation and 464 GWh additional storage capacity (provided by 8.2 GW wind capacity). This equates to an installed and additional total of 346.676 ha required for wind electricity generation, potentially satisfied by shared land use with 23% of Scottish improved grasslands. Scotland has the available land area to achieve the Scottish Government’s policy to move towards carbon-neutral, nuclear-free electricity generation through the use of renewables alone. Questions remain on which source of low carbon dispatchable (immediately accessible) energy to use in the case of a several day wind lull.

Highlights

In 2010 the global energy and heat production sector produced 14.4 Gt CO2e, making it the largest greenhouse gas emitter responsible for 35% of global GHG emissions for the year (IPCC, 2014)
Having more than doubled in size since 2008, current renewable capacity installed in Scotland stood at 11.9 GW in 2019 (BEIS, 2019) and installed onshore wind at 8.4 GW
The area of land available in Scotland for onshore wind turbine amounts to 4.38 M ha (Fig. 1a) providing a potential 118 GW of wind electricity generation

Summary

Introduction

In 2010 the global energy and heat production sector produced 14.4 Gt CO2e, making it the largest greenhouse gas emitter responsible for 35% of global GHG emissions for the year (IPCC, 2014). As the electricity generation industry is consistently the highest emitter of greenhouse gases across all regions in the United Kingdom (Salisbury et al, 2016), it is critical that the UK develops a low-carbon energy system. This will allow for a substantial reduction in GHG emissions, enabling the UK to start mitigating climate change and meet internationally agreed, legally binding, emission targets (UNFCCC, 1997, 2015; European Commission, 2014) In light of this there has been a political impetus within the UK to increase the share of low-carbon energy generation in the market, with policies put in place to support its deployment. The introduction of renewables has led to power balancing challenges for the national grid as these sources of electricity can be intermittent leading to peaks and troughs in electricity generation which do not follow the demand curve

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