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3. Environmental Targets
The Scottish Government has set a target of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The current short term target is to achieve a reduction by 2011, as compared with 2005.
In order to achieve this target it is necessary to (a) estimate emissions which will result from current and planned activity and (b) identify further policy options for achieving the 80% target. Projections of expected emissions necessarily reflect assumptions on energy mix. Using projections of the energy mix for the UK as a whole can give a misleading picture for Scotland given both the different current mix and energy resources which will allow a different mix in the future. Projections therefore need to be adjusted for Scotland's specific characteristics. This work is in progress together with identification of future policy options.
It is clear that meeting carbon emission targets will require a strong contribution from changed patterns of energy production and consumption. On the production side, Scotland will need both more renewable energy and clean energy from fossil fuels. But Scotland has the comparative advantage to allow this to be achieved if there is sustained effort to overcome barriers.
The Scottish Government supports the EU target of 20% of Europe's energy requirements being met from renewable resources by 2020. Scotland will play its part in meeting the contribution proposed for the UK of 15% energy from renewable sources and will aim to go further than this to 20%. Working with industry and other stakeholders we will produce in 2009 a Renewable Energy Framework to set out how we will achieve this objective. A draft Framework will issue for consultation in September 2008.
The Framework will address, power, heat and transport aspects of renewable energy. However, this Overview document does not specifically address use of energy in transport. This document focuses on power and heat. Heat is the subject of a current detailed strand of work and we envisage setting targets, taking into account EU objectives.
For electricity, the aim of the Scottish Government is that 50% of Scottish demand1for electricity should be met from renewable sources by 2020, with a milestone of 31% by 2011. That milestone is equivalent to 5,000 MW of installed capacity. This is twice the capacity at Scotland's Green Energy Day in September 2007 when installed capacity of renewable energy exceeded that of nuclear generation.
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