Hansard

I thank Mike MacKenzie and congratulate him on securing the debate. It might not look like the most exciting issue that we will debate this week, but it is probably one of the most important. I therefore welcome the fact that he has put it on the agenda for us tonight.

Mike MacKenzie mentioned the challenges that we face: the fact that 39 per cent of our households are in fuel poverty; the fact that we are missing the emissions targets; the target of meeting our electricity demand from renewables; the stalling in the transformation that we need across our economy, which, as he said, is partly due to the UK Government’s chopping and changing in both its investment and the regulatory framework; and the challenge of intermittency. We are now beginning to power ahead with lots of different levels and scales of renewables, particularly wind renewables, but we do not have the grid or the storage back-up to maximise the economic and energy opportunities.

We face huge challenges, but I agree with Mike MacKenzie that we have now invented technologies that can overcome many of those challenges and help us to deliver security of supply and use the energy that we are currently wasting because we are unable to store it. For that reason, I particularly welcome the research that has been done and the briefings that we have been presented with by WWF and Scottish Renewables. Those new technologies are key to our economic and climate future in Scotland. They are key to a green energy transition that involves the creation of jobs, affordable heat and energy and a climate-friendly energy network.

There is no single, one-size-fits-all solution, and that plays to the contributions of the Highlands and Islands, of villages and of towns. It also plays to the contribution of cities. We will all have different opportunities depending on the local geography and circumstances, but we need to look at the range of energy and heat storage technologies that are available and work out what is best in all those areas.

The ambition of the post-war Labour Government was about having a mix of regulation and a mix of key partners and, crucially, it was about looking at the huge opportunity from large-scale hydro. We now have many more opportunities. Community hydro schemes are coming back into vogue. Hydro schemes present a particular opportunity because they can be community owned, and the benefits stay with the communities.

We need to look at other technologies, such as battery technologies. On Eigg, I have seen battery technology being used to develop fantastic opportunities. As the years go by—by the time we hit 2020 and 2025—we need to have cars, bikes, buses and other vehicles using battery storage. That will begin to transform how we use the electricity that is being produced but not being used.

Hydrogen fuel cells also have a huge and exciting potential. One of the opportunities that are being pursued is at community level. The work that is being done in the northern isles in particular is very exciting and we must begin to roll that out across the economy.

I will end on thermal storage. It is probably not the most exciting end of the energy spectrum, but it is potentially the most transformational. Let us go back to the opening statistic: 39 per cent of our households are in fuel poverty and there are people in the Western Isles in extreme fuel poverty. There are opportunities in district heating and district heating storage, such as the work of Glasgow’s Star Renewable Energy in Norway. The University of Edinburgh is leading the way on the key issue of how we make that work properly.

The issue is not just about renewables but about low and zero-carbon technologies. It is about using and bringing together a variety of renewables and heat technologies. The proposals at the University of Edinburgh have generated savings of £1.5 million a year and reduced CO2 emissions. The challenge is how to make such projects work across the country. Our Scandinavian neighbours have some of the solutions. We need to use new developments, supported by grants and planning approaches. We must also ensure that the public sector works with the private sector to bring about the change. The developments are really exciting.

Mike MacKenzie was right to kick off with the vision of Tom Johnston. We need that now in this Parliament—no pressure, minister. I hope that in the minister’s concluding remarks we will hear some of that vision and ambition, as well as the key steps to make the changes that we need. We in Scottish Labour are up for the challenge. Let us work together to deliver on that.