15 July 2019
15th July 2019
ScottishPower, along with Glasgow City Council, revealed a bold new vision to transform Glasgow into the UK’s first ‘Net Zero’ city.
With Scotland having set itself a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2045, the two organisations will start work on a range of programmes to ensure the country’s largest city reaches this target first.
Glasgow has already established the first Low Emission Zone outside of London, while the UK’s biggest onshore wind farm, Whitelee, which is owned by ScottishPower, is on the outskirts of the city.
The focus will now turn to other parts of Glasgow’s economy that can be decarbonised such as transport and heating, as well as continued investment in the electricity grid to support the increasingly low carbon city.
One of the key areas of focus over the next 10 years will be on electric vehicles. Over 70% of Glasgow’s residents live in flats with no personal off-street parking. This creates challenges to install chargers that can easily and regularly be used by residents.
ScottishPower is planning a charging system that overcomes this challenge and becomes a template for other cities across the UK facing similar problems. This will include workplace and public charging locations where people can charge away from home and in rapid time. Sites for these locations are already being assessed.
ScottishPower Chief Executive, Keith Anderson, said: “Scotland has rightly put itself at the top of the race to become Net Zero quicker than other places round the world. To succeed, our biggest city has to be the most ambitious and progressive in removing carbon emissions.
“We have a large supply of renewable energy on our doorstep and one of only two Low Emission Zones in action across the UK. Now, we need to invest in the technologies and programmes that transform the rest of Glasgow’s economy and make us Net Zero before anyone else.
“It is our hope that this declaration kick starts a race to zero with other ambitious cities, like Edinburgh, because then we will all be winners. The prize is the future of our country and our planet.”