News

Shell has released the Sky Scenario which illustrates a technically possible, but challenging pathway for society to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Sky builds on the previous Shell ‘Mountains’ and ‘Oceans’ scenarios and is their most optimistic scenario in terms of climate outcomes.

The Sky scenario reveals the potential for an energy system to emerge that brings modern energy to all in the world, without delivering a climate legacy that society cannot readily adapt to. The new Sky scenario includes important messages about hydrogen transport and the potential role of cities in delivering this transformation

The new Climate Change Plan, along with the Scottish Government’s Energy Strategy, will provide the strategic framework for delivering the transition to a low carbon Scotland.

Building on previous reports on policies and proposals, the Climate Change Plan sets out the path to a low carbon economy while helping to deliver sustainable economic growth and secure the wider benefits to a greener, fairer and healthier Scotland in 2032. This Climate Plan includes policies and proposals to reduce emissions from electricity generation, buildings (both residential and non-residential), transport, and industry.

The Royal Society has released a Policy Briefing on the ‘Options for producing low-carbon hydrogen at scale’.  Low-carbon hydrogen has the potential to play a significant role in tackling climate change and poor air quality. The policy briefing considers how hydrogen could be produced at a useful scale to power vehicles, heat homes and supply industrial processes.

This paper focuses on arguably the most challenging barrier to the hydrogen economy – producing hydrogen at a range of scales with little or no carbon emissions at acceptable cost. To achieve this, existing technologies need to be decarbonised and new technologies need to be developed.

The UK Met Office 3rd annual State of the UK Climate report was released on 27 July 2017, showing 2016 was the 13th warmest year based on records dating back to 1910. This report provides a summary of the UK weather and climate through the calendar year 2016 and is the third annual ‘State of the UK climate’ produced by the Met Office.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, which tracks the warming influence of long-lived greenhouse gases. This index has increased by 40 percent from 1990 to 2016 — with most of that attributable to rising carbon dioxide levels.

The public consultation on the draft Scottish Climate Change Bill opened on 30 June 2017, and is open for submissions until 22 September 2017.

The rest of the UK is gradually catching up with the Orkney Islands use of renewable energy.

National Grid has announced that on Friday 21 April 2017 Britain achieved 24 hours without using coal-fired power stations for the first time in 135 years. This is a new milestone for the UK’s energy system transition to low carbon and renewable energy sources. 

The UK Office for Low Emission Vehicles announced £23 million of funding to accelerate the take up of hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure on 18 March 2017. A new £23 million fund will accelerate the take up of hydrogen vehicles, and roll out more cutting-edge infrastructure.