Innovation will be a key part of reducing heat demand through the delivery of Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP). 

ClimateXChange commissioned research on the status of near-to-market energy efficiency, heat generation and smart technologies. The research will inform the Scottish Government on these technologies’ potential suitability in SEEP. The three technology landscaping studies will feed into the Research and Development (R&D) workstream of SEEP. Ultimately, the application of emerging technologies will help steer the direction of SEEP as a long-term programme of investment.

Key findings:

• In collaboration with consumer organisations, SEEP can support energy and carbon savings from smart energy technologies, and address issues around consumer acceptance of third party control.
• There are opportunities for supply chain stimulation, job creation and economic impact due to the universal applicability of many of the energy efficiency retrofit technologies identified.
• There is potential to increase the uptake of low carbon heating solutions by taking advantage of some of the possible benefits of high temperature, hybrid and gas driven heat pumps.

Download the technology score cards (see links on right hand side of this page). The original technology assessment matrices, in excel format, can be requested from the ClimateXChange secretariat by emailing us at info@climatexchange.org.uk

Read more about Scotland’s Energy Efficiency programme

The issue of the potential impact of wind farm developments on house prices has been raised in relation to wind farm developments across Scotland. The Scottish Government asked ClimateXChange to manage a research project looking at the impact based on a similar study in England.

The project set out to test whether there is a significant difference in the average house price growth of properties in close proximity to a wind farm compared with properties that are not near a wind farm. The analysis takes into account the dates when individual turbines become operational, taking into account the before and after effects of wind turbine construction.

The study includes data for the whole of mainland Scotland for the time period 1990-2014, and looks at the impact of both single turbines and whole wind farms. The analysis was conducted on postcode averages and using methods that follow individual dwellings over time, as well as the effects of properties having a view of the turbine(s) compared to proximity alone. Natural landscape and built environment have been taken into account when estimating whether an individual dwelling can see a wind farm or individual wind turbine.

The findings do not point to a consistent pattern of impact, and, in particular, there are no consistent negative effects on house price growth from being situated near to a wind farm. This lack of a consistent pattern is likely due to the range of factors that affect house prices simultaneously, and to varying degrees in different locations.

The project improves on an earlier methodology used in analysing wind farm impacts on house prices by using more precise ways of calculating the visibility of turbines. The methodology can be used for future analysis of the impact of wind farm developments (or indeed other developments) on house prices. The report shows how the results vary across different specifications of the analysis. The main computer code used to compile, link, clean and analyse the data will be made freely available to researchers and interested parties.

The project was funded by the Scottish Government and managed by ClimateXChange with the research team led from Sheffield University. The research was carried out in collaboration with the AQMeN research centre which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

ClimateXChange convened a meeting with Transport Scotland to discuss the Scottish Transport Energy and Air Pollution Model (STEAM). This facilitated dialogue between academics from CXC and UKERC, and policy and analytical staff from Transport Scotland, aimed to agree the potential capabilities and data requirements of such a model for Scotland. The event also looked at the scope for application of the STEAM model in support of transport emissions reduction policy development in line with the draft Climate Change Plan.

Increasing the use of car clubs is an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from transport in Scotland. This research analysed user survey data to better understand members’ motivations for joining car clubs. The findings may be useful in encouraging car club membership and in understanding the impact of car clubs on the transport system.

The research found that new members of car clubs can be separated according to those who previously owned a car and those who did not previously own a car.

New members who have previously owned a car are more commonly motivated to join a car club in order to spend less on transport and to reduce their level of car use. However, these members reported that their number of car trips increased after they joined carb clubs. Their use of light-rail transit and walking decreased over the same period.

New members who had not previously owned a car were more likely to be motivated to join car clubs in oder to access cars on a short term basis and to make trips that could not be made using alternative modes of transport. This group also increased the number of trips taken by car after joining, whilst reducing the number of trips taken by foot. This group, however, was more likely to use plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles than those who had previously owned a car.

Buses are the most popular form of public transport in Scotland, accounting for 77% of public transport journeys. Increasing the proportion of journeys taken by bus rather than by car can reduce road congestion, as well as the emission of greenhouse gases and local air pollutants.

This policy note explores how users perceive quality of bus services in Scotland. It provides insights into how the experience of taking a bus in Scotland may be improved for users in in order to encourage further bus patronage.  The key findings include:

• Service convenience – frequency and regularity – is the most important issue when existing bus users consider how satisfied they are.

• Targeting service improvements in relation to frequency, availability, reliability and stability will likely generate the highest returns to investment relating to the perceived satisfaction of existing bus users.

• The comfort and cleanliness of the bus and the ease of use of the service are still significant in user evaluations of the service, they tend to be of secondary importance

The Smart Accelerator was designed to help Smart  city, community and sustainable island projects in Scotland to transition from initial concept stage to being investable, implementable project partnerships, led by the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI).

The initiative supported 14 projects chosen as their ideas brought together mobility, low-carbon and innovative technology to enable Smarter and more sustainable cities, communities and islands.

This evaluation report finds that the continuous interaction between advice and practical support was crucial for the initiatives success in bringing the most innovative, smart ideas to the fore. The participants benefited specifically though continuous ‘shaping’ of their project ideas.

The report also makes recommendations for how the model could be improved.

The Scottish Government’s Local Energy Challenge Fund (LECF) aims to demonstrate the potential economic and social benefits of establishing local low carbon energy economies. Projects funded through the LECF will provide valuable insights into the impacts that local energy projects can have on local economies; by attracting and distributing income, and by changing the way that energy is generated and consumed.

ClimateXChange has been asked by the Scottish Government and Local Energy Scotland to investigate the economic impacts associated with local energy projects.  This study will be undertaken by the Fraser of AIlander Institute and the James Hutton Institute. It will use information gathered from LECF projects to better understand the local and regional economic and energy impacts associated with the development of local energy production and consumption systems. 

Electric vehicles (EVs) are to play a critical role in decarbonising Scotland’s transport sector. The Scottish Government will support an increase in the proportion of electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads through investing in electric vehicle infrastructure and converting the public sector vehicle fleets.

To date, the expansion of the UK’s EV market has been evaluated by monitoring EV registrations across the UK as a whole.  This policy brief provides a spatial analysis of  EV sales in the UK, with a particular focus on Scotland, to evaluate how EV registrations are occurring across different geographical areas.

The analysis reveals that Scotland ranks ahead of Wales and Northern Ireland in EV adoption, with EVs representing 0.05 of Scotland’s total car fleet.  Adoption rates vary signficantly between local authority areas in Scotland and correspond with levels of installed EV infrastructure, as well as socio-economic characteristics.

These findings improve understanding of Scotland’s developing EV market, enabling the consideration of local circumstances in policy development.

This study looked at whether the visual, shadow flicker and noise impacts predicted by wind farm developers in documentation submitted with their planning applications are consistent with the impacts experienced once the wind farm is operational.

The research extends our understanding of how local residents experience wind farms in terms of these three impacts. The report makes a number of recommendations for better guidance on how they can be predicted and mitigated. It also identifies several improvements in planning guidance and best practice that have been implemented in the time between the case study wind farms were planned and built, and the present.

The report is particularly valuable as it points to a constructive path towards consistent and valid assessments of visual, shadow flicker and noise impacts, and to how consultation with residents when assessing developments can be improved. It aims to inform any future decisions on changes to Scottish Government online planning guidelines and good practice on managing the impacts of wind farms on local residents.

Ten case studies were selected to include a spread of wind farm sizes, wind turbine heights, environmental assessment process, landscape character, wind farm age, geographical location across Scotland, and consents process, as well as on the basis of having known complaints about visual, shadow flicker or noise impacts. The sites selected represented 4% of the total number of built onshore wind energy developments in Scotland in 2013.

Data was collected through:

• evidence of how local residents experience and react to visual, shadow-flicker and noise impacts, gathered in a Residents’ Survey, and
• a review of planning documentation, monitoring and as-built data, supported by site survey, predictions and mapping which was assessed by professional consultants.

The project was overseen by a Project Steering Group (PSG) with representatives from various local and national interest groups representing both those living near wind farms and wind farm developers and operators, including Scotland Against Spin and Scottish Renewables, and representatives from local and national government planning interests. The PSG was put in place to ensure a balanced approach throughout the research and analysis.

Main findings

• The majority of assessments presented at planning stage for the ten case study wind farms identified and mainly followed extant guidelines.
• However, for some of the case study wind farms, extant guidelines were not consistently followed and/or the impacts predicted in the documentation submitted with developers’ planning applications were not consistent with the actual impacts as assessed in this study or as reported by some local residents.
• Assessments and public engagement activities had not always adequately prepared residents for the impacts of the operational wind farm in terms of visual, shadow flicker or noise impacts.

Main recommendations

• The prediction, measurement, assessment and documentation of impacts across all sizes of developments need to be more consistent. For certain aspects of the impact assessment this has not always been the case, for example assessing residential visual amenity impacts.
• The processes and procedures relating to retaining and accessing documentation need to be consistent across planning authorities, and throughout the consenting process, including post consent agreements, for example in respect of micro-siting.
• Those making recommendations (planning officers, councillors, planning reporters) should consistently make clear in their reports whether they consider the relevant assessment to have been carried out in accordance with recognised guidance and whether they concur with the findings.
• The implications of micro-siting need to be identified in assessments, in particular for visual and shadow flicker and, to a lesser degree, noise impacts, noting that there are also likely to be impacts for other environmental aspects not covered by the scope of this study, such as protected species, sensitive habitats or peat.

This report looks at developers’ community engagement practices across a range of wind farm developments in the UK and the rest of Europe.

It concludes that important factors in community engagement are:

• wide-ranging and innovative methods of engagement;
• methods which facilitate dialogue (rather than just transmitting information);
• instances where action is taken on the basis of responses gathered;
• measures to keep engagement going through all stages including approval and construction;
• using a wide ranging definition of an ‘affected’ public; and
• identifying and implementing tangible benefits.

It makes recommendations for how best practice guidance on community engagement should evolve.