I’m going to show you a model island community, with well
insulated homes, that are heated by renewable energy and where all the food is
sourced locally complete with composting toilets
This is Skara Brae on the Island of Orkneyl in Scotland last
occupied around 4500 years ago and by all accounts this Neolithic village must
have had a pretty good lifestyle with easy access to the sea for fishing, and cosy
earth sheltered homes that probably have better thermal properties that some
homes that people live in in Europe today. Now I am not for a second suggesting
that an energy transition means going back to some mythical prehistoric golden
age but that the same issues which islanders of millennia gone by faced are
still relevant to the energy transition we are seeking today, the wealth of
natural resources, the independence of spirit and a desire to be separate from the
mainland make them often enthusiastic partners in renewable energy and energy
efficiency projects.
Today’s
Orkney is still a leading Island in the renewable energy
revolution but it is
wind turbines and wave and tidal power that are the fuel and they now produce
120% of their electricity needs from
the environment around them.
The EU has funded the Clean Energy for Islands Initiative to
support energy transition in islands and to use them as testbeds for the Clean
Energy Transition more generally.
Why islands? – Fossil fuels can be expensive to transport
and energy connections to the mainland can also be prohibitively pricey. Using
locally sourced renewable energy reduces dependency on fossil fuel imports.
Islands by their nature are close to the sea and could take advantage of wave
and tidal power and of course wind and solar energy just like anywhere else.
Specialist skills in maintenance and management may not be
easily available but large scale renewable energy installations can give new
opportunities for locals not just in installation but also in the repairs and
ongoing maintenance that all energy systems require. So the same boats which
may be used for local fishing and providing support to oil platforms may be the
same ones that provide maintenance to offshore wind turbine installations and
even tourist trips to see these massive wonders of engineering close up.
Clean energy transition in small/medium island is a complex
issue due to geographical boundaries, the condition of the energy network, the
cost of the fuels to be imported, the difficulty in reaching critical mass and
economies of scale.
We have to recognise that the size of some islands make
economies of scale for significant capital intensive energy generation prohibitive which is where EU funding can help
and be deployed appropriately to pump-prime renewables that provide a sustainable
future for the communities they serve
These factors need taking into account and we need to make
the most out of the strong sense of
belonging that can characterise many island communities so community ownership
and community share offers for renewable energy technologies fit well with the
psyche of islanders who have the means to participate but also offer
opportunities for publicly owned energy generation by the Local Authorities and
Councils responsible for public services.
The quadruple helix approach is critical where public
services, industry, academia and crucially citizens are directly involved in
reaching solutions that fit best with an islands approach that can be tailor
made to meet their energy needs that also utilises the abundant resources
around them.
It is of course a good thing to help islands achieve a
decarbonised economy but what we learn in the process will inform how we
approach decarbonising mainland communities more widely on the mainland as well
because ultimately we all live on an island.
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