The Scottish Highlands
The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. The Scottish Highlands covers an area of 30,659 km² and has a population of 220 000 inhabitants (2008).
Highland Scotland has concentrated on the development of renewable hydro electricity for the last 60 years. The Highland Regional Council has produced a “Renewable Energy Strategy and Planning Guidelines”. Recent developments include the installation or planning of wind farms and wave technology. Current annual output from hydro and wave is about 713 and 1800 GWh respectively. The biomass industry is relatively young, with three industrial scale woodfuel producers. Woody biomass is the most important source of bioenergy. Highland Scotland has about 13% forest cover and very limited potential for arable crops. There are two major biomass industries, a pellet factory with a capacity for 100 000 tonnes of pellets (480 GWh equivalent) and a wood board factory. Other biomass production is by use of sawmill co product and virgin small roundwood to produce woodchip. In Highland Scotland there is a small and mainly informal firewood market.
Energy Balance
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Energy
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Final energy consumption 7869 GWh, there of 3028 GWh renewables
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Total production of primary energy 3028 GWh, there of 100% primary production of renewable energy (RE) representing 38% of final energy consumption.
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Net imports of primary energy 4868 GWh
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Renewable energy primary production: biomass 6.5 %, hydro , geothermal 22% wind 9% and solar energy 0.001%
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The Renewable Energy Strategy and Planning Guidelines estimate the potential bioenergy resource from woody biomass to be between 1027 and 3018 GWh / annum depending on the level of constraint.
Final Energy Consumption
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Final Energy Consumption
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%
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Coal
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1.57%
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Manufactured fuels
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0.08%
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Petroleum products
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55.80%
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Natural Gas
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17.13%
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Electricity
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22.90%
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Renewables & waste*
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2.52%
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* Excludes electricity from hydro and wind
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