Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan

Glossary

Active travel: Walking, wheeling and cycling as an alternative to motorised transport.

Ancillary services: Services to balance demand and supply and to ensure the security of electricity supply across Britain's transmission system.

Biomass: Refers to any material of biological origin used as a feedstock or products (e.g. wood in construction to make chemicals and materials, like bio-based plastics), or as a fuel for bioenergy (heat, electricity and gaseous fuels such as biomethane and hydrogen) or biofuels (transport fuels).

Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS): BECCS is a negative emissions technology, and, if proven at scale, would help achieve Scotland's net zero targets, compensating for residual emissions in hard-to-decarbonise sectors.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage: Carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) encompasses the methods and technologies required to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) from large emitters, such as biomass or fossil fuel power plants and industrial processes, and either convert this into new commodities (utilisation) or transport it for safe and permanent storage deep underground in a geological formation.

Climate Compatibility Checks: Checkpoints being introduced by UK Government to ensure any future licensing of oil and gas extraction is compatible with the UK's climate objectives before a licensing round is offered.

Circular Economy: A circular economy is one that is designed to reduce the demand for raw material in products; to encourage reuse, repair and manufacture by designing products and materials to last as long as possible, in line with the waste hierarchy.

Co-design: Co-design relies on an inclusive and participative engagement process that empowers specific groups and people in society, to directly influence policy decisions and actions. The aim is to ensure that plans reflect their needs and circumstances, and the barriers they face.

CO₂ intensity of electricity: Carbon intensity of electricity measures the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of electricity produced. Each kilowatt hour of electricity generated in Scotland in 2020 added an estimated 33.6 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (gCO2e/kWh), a sizeable drop from 389.8 gCO2e/kWh in 2010.

Direct Emissions: Emissions released on an organisation's site or from their vehicles or as a by-product or unintended consequence of operations. More accurately, they are greenhouse gas emissions that come from sources which are owned or controlled by an organisation. Direct emissions are also referred to as Scope 1 emissions.

Dispatchable Capacity: Energy generation which can be available on demand.

Energy Demand: Uses of electricity and other fuels including domestic uses, industrial usage, transport and agriculture.

Energy Generation: The production of electricity, heat, or usable fuel through conversion of renewable sources, extraction and processing of fossil fuels or conversion of other primary sources of energy.

Energy Networks: A system of connected cables or pipes for transporting electricity or gas from the points of generation to the points of demand.

Energy Security: Energy security can be defined as having sufficient energy generation to meet the volume and type of energy demand at any point, and having the means to get that energy to the point of use.

Gross final electricity consumption: Gross electricity consumption refers to total electricity generation minus net export.

GW /GWH: See Watts and Watt – hours

Heat Networks: Heat networks distribute heat or cooling from a central source or sources and deliver it to a variety of different customers such as public buildings, shops, offices, hospitals, universities and homes. By supplying multiple buildings, they avoid the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building.

Indirect Emissions: Emissions produced by an organisation through consumption and purchasing decisions. Indirect emissions are classed as 'Scope 2' (generated electricity and heat) or 'Scope 3' (other goods and services).

INTOG: Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) is a leasing round for offshore wind projects that will directly reduce emissions from oil and gas production and boost further innovation.

Intermittent Renewable Generators: Renewable sources of energy which cannot provide continuous, steady power.

Just Transition: Just transition is both the outcome and the process for a fairer, greener future for all, in partnership with those impacted by the transition to net zero.

Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Technology which has the capacity to convert electricity to another form of energy and convert it back to electricity, supplying the grid with continuous power over a number of hours or longer.

Low Carbon / Blue Hydrogen: Hydrogen produced by reforming natural gas in conjunction with carbon capture and storage with high capture rates.

Low-emission Fuels: Forms of fuel that when burned produce low greenhouse gas emissions at the point of use - such as low-carbon hydrogen.

Maximum Economic Recovery: The continuous extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea, until the value of the energy extracted no longer exceeds the cost of extracting and producing it.

Mt Co₂e: MtCO₂e means metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This measure is used to compare emissions from different greenhouse gases based on their global warming potential (GWP).

Mmboe/d: Million barrels of oil equivalent per day

National Grid ESO: National Grid ESO are the Electricity System Operator for Great Britain, and are responsible for the safe, secure supply of electricity across the country.

Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs): Negative Emissions Technologies (NETs) are an emerging field of technologies that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and, utilising carbon capture and storage, sequester them permanently. NETs can include forms of Direct Air Capture with Carbon Storage (DACCS), Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) or other more experimental means such as enhanced weathering or biochar. NETs can be considered one form of Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGRs), which also includes natural sequestration methods such as afforestation. It can also be used interchangeably with Carbon Dioxide Removal technologies (CDR).

Net Positive Employment: Refers to more jobs being created by the transition to net zero than have been displaced during the transition.

Net Zero: The balancing of greenhouse gas emissions against greenhouse gas removals with the net result being zero (see also carbon neutral).

Onshore conventional oil and gas: Petroleum, or crude oil, and raw natural gas extracted from the ground by conventional means and methods.

Operational: Electricity generation capacity which is currently operational.

Pipeline: Electricity generation capacity which is under construction, awaiting construction, or in planning.

Potential pipeline: Electricity generation capacity from offshore wind that is not yet in the official planning pipeline (in the Renewable Energy Planning Database), but where information is available through ScotWind and INTOG leasing rounds.

Primary electricity: Primary electricity refers to electricity generated from nuclear, wind, solar, and natural flow hydro.

Pumped Hydro Storage: A flexible technology that can ramp up to respond to periods of low output (for example, days with low wind). It works by moving water between two pools to generate electricity. When the water is released from the top it drives turbines which produces electricity. Depending on the size of the body of water and number of turbines, it can produce relatively small amounts of electricity or provide a substantial amount to the grid. When there is more power on the system than demand, a pump hydro storage will take power from the system to push water back up hill ready to be used again.

Renewable / Green Hydrogen: Hydrogen produced using electrolysis of water, powered by renewable electricity.

Supply Chain: A network between a company and its suppliers to produce and distribute a specific product to the final buyer. This network includes different activities, people, entities, information and resources. The supply chain also represents the steps it takes to get the product or service from its original state to the customer.

System restoration (or black start): A system restoration or black start service is the process of restoring an electric power station or a part of an electricity grid to operation without relying on the external electric power transmission network in order to recover from major disruption to the transmission and distribution network. Power to restart the network may come from a nearby standby generator. Black start services are agreed by the National Grid Electricity System Operator with generators under contract.

Watts – including Mega, Giga and Terra Watts: Watts are a unit of power used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. A Kilowatt (KW) is equal to one thousand Watts. A Megawatt (MW) is equal to one million Watts. A Gigawatt is equal to one billion Watts. A Terawatt is equal to one trillion watts.

Watt hours – incl, Mega, Giga and Terawatt-hours: A Watt-hour is a unit of work or energy equivalent to the power of one watt operating for one hour. A kilowatt-hour is equal to one thousand watt-hours. A Megawatt-hour is equal to one million watt-hours. A Gigawatt-hour is equal to one billion watt-hours. A Terawatt-hour is equal to one trillion watt-hours.

Thermal Generation: Conventional power plants that use a form of fossil fuel to power a turbine to generate electricity.

Unconventional oil and gas: Includes any development connected to the onshore exploration, appraisal or production of coal bed methane or shale oil or shale gas using unconventional oil and gas extraction techniques, including hydraulic fracturing and dewatering for coal bed methane.

Vehicle to Grid: Two way electric vehicle charging that can either draw or supply power between the battery in an electric vehicle and the electricity grid system.

Zero Direct Emissions Heating (ZDEH): Heating systems which have no direct emissions (see definition above) at the point of use.