Green groups, opposition parties and renewable energy industry bodies have unanimously called on the Scottish Government to embrace ‘demand response’ energy efficiency measures in favour of building more costly and dirty fossil fuel power stations. WWF Scotland, Scottish Renewables and the Scottish Greens have all told edie of the need for the nation’s political parties to commit to a comprehensive national strategy to help homes and businesses reduce and manage their demand for electricity. Universities, banks, supermarkets and datacentres could act as ‘virtual power plants’, voluntarily lowering their demand for electricity and therefore avoiding the need to turn on conventional power stations, the organisations claim. “It’s far cheaper to reduce our electricity demand than it is to build new power stations that are only used for short periods of time,” said W WF Scotland’s climate and policy officer Gina Hanrahan. “If we want to cut consumer bills and lower climate emissions then demand reduction must be a central part of any future energy strategy. “Scotland’s political parties need to commit to a national strategy to help consumers and businesses cut their demand for electricity by at least 1% a year to 2030.”
Edie 5th Jan 2016 read more »