Decarbonising heat in remote and rural communities
William Monteith, Business Development Manager, ETP
HeatSource Exclusive: William Monteith, expert on power network integration and smart grid technologies, gives his views on sustainable approaches to heating in communities that aren’t as easy to access.
The general consensus is that decarbonising remote and rural areas requires a whole system approach – especially when a community is considered “off-grid”.
One of the main challenges facing many households within these communities is their reliance on fossil fuels for space heating and cooking. This reliance could potentially push an alarming amount of people living in remote and rural areas into extreme fuel poverty (heat or eat) this winter due to the cost of living crisis. Increases in global LPG and LNG prices and uncertainty mean that there are supply concerns for the five rural remote Statutory Independent Undertakings (SIU) based in Scotland along with other rural communities burning different forms of fossil fuels.
For rural and remote communities who own their energy systems, electrification of heat is potentially the most attainable solution at the moment. Encouragingly, interest in deploying Heat Pumps have increased exponentially and projects are currently being undertaken in remote island communities using a fabric first approach. It is acknowledged within these communities that electrification of heating will put additional demands onto the energy system which could require a significant increase in the capacity of the system. Smart grid technologies can help mitigate against demand challenges by firstly understanding demand profiles and usage so that consumption can be optimised for future scenarios including zero carbon systems. Some remote off-grid communities have started to deploy smart grid sensors supported by ETP funding to digitalise their energy assets to increase data capture and availability allowing better informed decisions to be made whilst helping to increase efficiency across the whole system. The benefits of an efficient well managed whole system approach are that it can support the long-term sustainable economic development of these communities whilst reducing costs.
SIU communities could potentially provide favourable economic locations to deploy Hydrogen technology solutions due to the ever-increasing costs and supply challenges of using LPG and LNG. A number of communities across Scotland are engaging with academia and local companies from the hydrogen sector to deploy innovative solutions. This activity and support will hopefully help develop local supply chains and accelerate technological advancement and infrastructure overcoming barriers regarding deployment for rural and remote communities. However, there is scepticism that surrounds the burning of hydrogen for heating due to its low energy efficiency along with a lack of research on the impact of fugitive emissions.
Amidst the plethora of current challenges faced by remote and rural communities, it’s been great to experience their appetite for collaboration, innovation and continuous drive towards a transition to net-zero/zero carbon. It’s also great to see the communities of Eigg, Knoydart and the Western Isles accelerating the deployment and planning of sustainable renewable heating solutions moving away from fossil fuels whilst also taking a whole systems approach. Their preference for using local supply chains and deploying circular principles captures in essence what the “just transition” is about and will enable the sustainable economic development of these communities ensuring future prosperity and security.