Seòmar agus comataidhean

Although there is no fixed definition of what a hard to treat home is, we estimate that the average cost of upgrading an off-gas grid property with an initial EPC rating between Band E and Band G to an EPC Band C could be in the region of £17,000.

As set out in our draft Heat in Buildings Strategy, the cost for an individual dwelling can differ from this average depending on the building type, materials, existing levels of energy efficiency and type of heating systems being replaced.

The Scottish Government, through Home Energy Scotland (HES), already provides free, impartial advice to households both on and off the gas grid on how to decarbonise the energy supply of their homes. This includes a specialist home renewables advice service.

Through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan and cashback scheme, we provide interest-free loans of up to £17,500 for renewable measures with an additional 75%, up to £7500 cashback for homeowners to replace fossil fuel heating systems with renewable heating systems.

All households can also access support through the Green Homes Network which allows them to learn from the experience of others who have already installed measures, and the Renewable Installer Finder Tool which helps identify installers and suppliers in their area.

Some owner-occupiers may also be eligible for support via our fully-funded national energy efficiency/fuel poverty scheme - Warmer Homes Scotland – which is providing increasing numbers of renewable heating systems particularly to off-gas grid homes.

These Scottish Government-funded advice and support schemes can be accessed through Home Energy Scotland, run by the Energy Saving Trust.

The Scottish Government, through Home Energy Scotland (HES), already provides free, impartial advice to households both on and off the gas grid on how to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Additionally, through the Home Energy Scotland (HES) loan and cashback scheme, we provide interest-free loans of up to £15,000 with an additional 40% cashback up to a total value of £6,000, for homeowners to install energy efficiency measures in order to improve the EPC rating of their property.

Some owner-occupiers may also be eligible for support via our fully-funded energy efficiency/fuel poverty schemes – Warmer Homes Scotland or the local authority Area-Based Schemes.

All these Scottish Government-funded advice and support schemes can be accessed through Home Energy Scotland, run by the Energy Saving Trust.

On the 22 December 2020, the Scottish Government published research that assessed the suitability of low carbon heating technologies in residential buildings in Scotland. It found that , of the 507,000 homes off the gas network, around 105,000 would require a low carbon heating technology other than a heat pump.

Table 1: Number of homes located away from the gas grid, not suitable for heat pump technologies,

We are currently analysing responses to the consultation. We will publish the final Heat in Buildings Strategy in due course, which will include our response to the consultation.

On the 22 December 2020, the Scottish Government published research that assessed the suitability of low carbon heating technologies in residential buildings in Scotland. It found that, of the 507,000 homes off-the gas network, 402,000 would be suitable for some form of heat pump. (See Table 1)

Table 1: Number of homes located away from the gas grid, by suitability for heat pump technologies 1

Our Energy Strategy, published in 2017, reiterated the Scottish Government’s continued opposition to new nuclear stations based on current technologies, and our determination instead to continue developing Scotland’s huge renewable resource while also promoting storage and energy efficiency.

The Strategy made clear our awareness of new technologies, such as Small Modular Reactors, and our duty to assess them as required. In the meantime, however, this particular technology remains unproven, and there are no plans or propositions for its development in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has not carried out specific analysis on this issue.

There are complexities and a variety of international travel possibilities within the global international oil and gas industry. Risk of Covid infection for workers travelling to and from installations on the UK continental shelf (UKCS) cannot be attributed to any single factor, but a comprehensive range of infection control measures has been implemented to reduce this to as low as reasonably practicable.

The regulation of occupational health and safety is reserved to the UK Government. Statutory responsibilities for enforcement in the offshore oil and gas industry lies with the Health and Safety Executive.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 employers have a statutory duty to protect the health and safety of their employees, to undertake appropriate risk assessments and to put in place appropriate mitigations.

The Scottish Government has no statutory involvement in workplace health and safety regulation.

There are currently 49 members of Scottish government staff in specific COP26 posts, with 11 further specific posts under recruitment. A wide range of other staff members across the Scottish Government contribute a percentage of their time to working on COP26.

The most recent data published by the Scottish Government show that the forestry estate in Scotland currently removes over 6MtCO ₂ annually. These removals are net of any CO ₂ emissions from forestry operations and forest soils.

Scottish Forestry has commissioned further research to provide the latest quantitative evidence on these impacts for different types of woodland. This research will be released later in 2021. Preliminary results show that emissions from forest operations are very low compared to removals as trees grow.