---
title: "Scotland Has a Plan to Become a World Leader in Renewable Energy"
description: "A new paper, Renewables Scotland 2030, outlines objectives the U.K. nation should target if it wants to emerge a world leader in renewable energy."
date: "2018-02-16"
modified: "2018-02-16"
authors:
  - name: "Chelsea Gohd"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/chelseagohd"
url: "https://futurism.com/scotland-world-leader-renewable-energy"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "energy"
  - "renewables"
  - "scotland"
---

# Scotland Has a Plan to Become a World Leader in Renewable Energy

![renewables scotland](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/karsten-wurth-inf1783-104653.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/0w-uTa0Xz7w" target="\_blank"\> Karsten Würth\</a\>\</em\>*

## European Leader

If Scotland wants to become a [European leader in renewables](<http://thenational.scot/news/15998044.Scotland_could_become__European_giant__in_renewables_by_2030/>), it now has a roadmap to follow: *Renewables Scotland 2030*.

According to [the paper](<http://allofusfirst.org/tasks/render/file/?fileID=04BC27AF-F95D-9519-771164AAAC55D2DB>), prepared for think tank Common Weal by engineer Craig Berry, U.K. energy policies have failed Scotland since 1980. A whopping 34.9 percent of Scottish households are facing fuel poverty while the six largest energy companies have seen profit margins increase.

The paper outlines a way for Scotland to combat these trying energy issues and become a European leader in renewable energy by 2030.

https://youtu.be/665GPvmNw-M

The author of *Renewables Scotland 2030* suggests that the nation's new National Energy Company focus on five key objectives:

- Reduce, and one day eliminate, fuel poverty
- Meet at least 75 percent of fuel demand with renewable energy
- Decentralize the energy supply
- Invest in and advance research and development in environmentally conscious technologies
- Use a not-for-profit approach to ensure that these green efforts yield social results

If Scotland shifts its focus toward these objectives, following the lead of German and Nordic nations, it could emerge a world leader in energy by 2030, according to Berry.

## Making Progress

Scotland is already making some progress in revamping its energy sector. In September 2017, the Scottish government pledged to [phase out gas and diesel passenger vehicles](<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/scotland-petrol-diesel-cars-phase-out-ban-2032-nicola-sturgeon-snp-environment-air-pollution-a7930781.html>) by 2032. In 2016, it set a goal to generate 100 percent of its electricity through [renewables by 2020](<https://futurism.com/scotland-is-set-to-be-100-zero-carbon-by-2020>).

As part of that goal, the nation has dramatically increased its [support for wind power](<https://futurism.com/for-the-first-time-ever-wind-power-generated-106-of-scotlands-energy-needs>). “We have a great resource. It's Scotland’s terrible weather,” Niall Stuart, the chief executive of Scottish Renewables, [told *The Washington Post* in 2016](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-scotland-gusts-of-wind-usher-in-a-quiet-energy-revolution/2016/10/15/e5da2f5a-8a57-11e6-8cdc-4fbb1973b506_story.html?utm_term=.5de50822be9e>). In October 2017, that weather allowed Scotland to generate enough [wind energy](<https://futurism.com/scotlands-wind-turbines-could-power-almost-every-household-for-a-month>) to meet an impressive 38 percent of its energy needs.

The objectives outlined in the *Renewables Scotland 2030* report go beyond individual energy sources or initiative. If met, they would allow Scotland to break free from fossil fuels and establish itself as a leader in renewables to the benefit of not only the environment, but the nation and its citizens as well.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/chelsea_gohd>)