Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03232 on‎ 4 October 2021 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government as this is an operational matter for the independent Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). I have therefore asked SEPA’s Chief Executive to write to the Member to provide details.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03041 on 1 October 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03232 on‎ 4 October 2021 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03192 on‎ 4 October 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended by the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, requires any person who manages controlled waste to apply the Waste Hierarchy set out in Article 4(1) of Directive 2009/98/EC (the “Waste Framework Directive”) and to take reasonable steps to increase the quantity and quality of recyclable materials, with the desired outcome being closed-loop recycling.

The scheme administrator for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme will therefore have to ensure glass is sorted and processed in a way that maintains the recyclate in a high-value state.

The Scottish Government is engaging with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) a market-led, UN supported, international initiative, which builds on the model developed by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and aims to create a framework for how organisations can address environmental risks and opportunities. We are supportive of the objectives of this work, and will ensure that there is effective coordination with Scottish Government policies.

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the impact of Scotland’s consumption on nature and societies, including our impacts in other countries. This is an outcome sought by our Environment Strategy, and our progress was discussed in the 2020 report Scotland and the sustainable development goals: a national review to drive action. Reducing the impact of our consumption on the natural environment is an important driver of our work to create a more circular economy. The Scottish Government will continue to work with partners and through our own policies and legislative proposals to reduce the impacts on and risks to nature from consumption in Scotland.

Scottish Ministers set investment priorities for the Scottish Government. When making investment decisions, Ministers will consider multiple criteria and evidence informed by robust assessments which are in accordance with statutory procedures.

The development of a domestic hydrogen sector will play an important role in supporting a just transition to Net Zero by 2045, and presents significant long-term economic opportunities.

We are taking forward an Energy Transition Scotland programme, including the Energy Transition Fund (ETF), which in its first year of operation is already funding key transition projects – such as the Global Underwater Hub, the Energy Transition Zone, the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub, and the Net Zero Technology Transition Programme.

These projects will help to ensure Scotland’s energy sector plays a leading role in the development and deployment of new, low carbon projects.

Additionally, the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) will provide £180m over the next five years to support the development of hydrogen, and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) that underpins negative emissions technologies (NETs).

Details on the £100m capital funding that will be dedicated to the support of the Scottish hydrogen sector as committed in our Hydrogen Policy Statement will be published alongside our Hydrogen Action Plan targeted for publication in the first year of this Parliamentary term.

The Hydrogen Action Plan will set out the actions that will be taken over the coming five years to support Scottish supply chain activity and drive the development of a low-cost hydrogen capability to meet our initial ambition to generate 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030.

We also support to the Acorn Hydrogen projects at St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, where 35% of the UK’s annual gas supply enters the National Transmission System. We believe Acorn can be the first large-scale hydrogen project developed in Scotland. Acorn Hydrogen will be enabled by its sister project, Acorn CCS, considered the most advanced CCS project in the UK. Acorn is leading the Scottish bid into the UK Government’s cluster sequencing process to allow Carbon, Capture and Storage (CCS) to be deployed by the mid-2020s, and we are supportive of the Scottish Cluster’s bid into the UK Government’s cluster sequencing process. It is critical that the UK Government recognises Acorn CCS as one of the first two projects to commercialise in the 2020s as part of this cluster sequencing process, and does not delay these Scottish projects, which are essential for meeting our emissions reduction targets.

The Acorn Hydrogen project will initially involve the construction of a 200 MW hydrogen production plant that could become operational by 2025, and which would allow for a 2% hydrogen blend by volume into the National Transmission System (NTS). The emissions from the hydrogen production would be captured, transported, and safely stored offshore deep underground, reusing current oil and gas infrastructure.

Acorn CCS and Hydrogen are key catalysts for clean growth in the north east of the UK and beyond. These projects are highly scalable, due to availability of large volumes of natural gas feedstock, up to 46GT of offshore CO2 storage capacity, and the availability of existing offshore pipeline infrastructure. Large volumes of hydrogen can be generated in the 2020s and beyond, offering an opportunity to establish hydrogen infrastructure before other complementary decarbonisation technologies reach scale.

Hedgerows can support ecological connectivity by joining up nature rich areas across Scotland, contributing to wider nature networks and helping to address habitat fragmentation, which is one of the most significant drivers of biodiversity loss.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of hedges and their creation and supports the this through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme which has committed £11.6 million since 2015.