I thank Jamie Greene for bringing this important issue to the chamber for debate.
I agree with members from across the chamber that decarbonising transport is one of Scotland’s biggest challenges in meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets. It is a challenge that we are tackling head on. Our plans for the transport sector will see the greatest emissions reduction in absolute terms of any sector over the lifetime of the climate change plan, so it is important that we start to make progress.
Decarbonisation is vital work. It is good for Scotland’s health. David Torrance made some excellent points about the impact on health of air quality. It will help to protect our precious environment, which we all care about. Innovative approaches to low-carbon transport have the potential to bring economic benefit to Scotland. Our focus and, I am sure, that of every member in the chamber, is on harnessing as many of those benefits as possible for the people of Scotland.
When opening our debate last month on ultra-low-emission vehicles, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity described the various forms of support that we are providing to encourage the transition to electric vehicles. Many colleagues from across the chamber highlighted the importance of having a charging network that provides comprehensive coverage around Scotland, which will give people the confidence to buy and run battery electric vehicles. That point has been repeated today.
Provision of that confidence is a priority for us, but we should reflect on what we have already achieved and be sure that we focus our attention on the most important issues. That is not necessarily to big ourselves up, but it is important to get the information out there about how many charging places there are, which will give the confidence that members seek.
Jamie Greene made the fair point that the chargeplace Scotland network already provides 1,000 publicly available charge points, which means that we have one of the most comprehensive charging networks in Europe. On average, the nearest charge point is just 2.78 miles away in Scotland—there are longer distances to travel in some localities—whereas in Great Britain as a whole the nearest charge point is, on average, 4.09 miles away. There is still an issue to be resolve for the whole of Great Britain, but we are making relatively good progress.
In addition, a number of independent providers have put in place chargers at various locations. Taken together, more than 2,800 publicly available individual connectors around Scotland are listed on Zap-Map, which is one of the leading listings of publicly available charge points. In some cases, there is more than one connector at a single charge point, which underscores the fact that there are probably more charging points than people might imagine. Even taking that into account, the numbers show that Scotland is well ahead of the European Commission’s recommendation of one public charge point for every ten plug-in vehicles.
Through the Energy Savings Trust, we supported the installation in 2018-19 of 350 workplace chargers, in addition to the 461 that had already been installed, and of 1,200 domestic chargers, in addition to the 1,928 that were already installed.
There are perhaps more charging points than we have given ourselves credit for in the past. As Jamie Greene, Maurice Golden and other members acknowledged, some businesses already have their own charging points, and organisations and individuals are likely to have made their own arrangements without public support, so there will be more charging points than we are aware of. A lot of the public debate has focused on the chargeplace Scotland network, because it is the main publicly operated network, but most important is overall accessibility of chargers for electric vehicle owners.
We are committed to continuing to fund the public EV charging infrastructure, and to working with local authorities and others through programmes such as the switched on towns and cities challenge fund. However, we have to be sure that we are providing the right kind of investment. I take the point about ensuring that we get investment in the right places, which is important. We will continue to add charge points to the network where there is a need to ensure coverage. Our commitment to the electric A9, which was referenced by Maurice Golden, is an example of that. Equally important will be the focus on ensuring that the current network is well maintained and supported by excellent customer service, and that it keeps pace with changing technology.
The burden of charging EVs in Scotland will not fall on chargeplace Scotland’s network alone. Analysis suggests that, on average, EV drivers use the public network for 10 per cent or less of their charging needs, with the rest of the charging being done at home, work or another destination. There is a mix of charger usage. We will continue to talk to the sector to make sure that we stay ahead of developments and ensure that installation of chargers on trunk roads, and at workplaces, destinations and at home happens as smoothly and effectively as possible.
I turn to other points that were made about the wider transport system. Support for EVs and charging is just one of the most visible demonstrations of our activity, but our support goes far beyond that. A number of examples have been referenced by colleagues from across the chamber.
We are tackling freight emissions through support for local authorities to deliver the ECO Stars programme for heavy goods vehicles. We have set Network Rail challenging but achievable regulatory targets to grow rail freight, which produces 76 per cent less carbon dioxide than road freight per tonne of cargo.
We will introduce an improved bus service operators grant low-carbon vehicle incentive from 1 April this year, as well as a new Scottish green bus fund, with money being available over years, and for infrastructure for the first time, which will be weighted towards the lowest-emitting buses.
We will also continue to promote a shift towards active and sustainable travel to combat health issues related to poor air quality, as referenced by Mr Torrance.
Hydrogen was mentioned by Colin Smyth and other colleagues from around the chamber. I mention our forthcoming network vision statement because I am trying to listen to stakeholders about reflecting the need for hydrogen. We will probably do more detailed work on that throughout the year. We are on the verge of a transformational shift in use of hydrogen. Scotland has the natural assets, skills and experience to exploit fully the potential for hydrogen to help to decarbonise our transport and heat systems.
We have supported a number of world-leading hydrogen demonstration projects. I will not go through them all, but I will make sure that a list is available to colleagues who have taken part in the debate. We have given more than £6 million in support for procurement of hydrogen buses in Aberdeen, which Mr Torrance mentioned. We have provided £1.3 million for the Orkney surf’n’turf project on Eday, which is using tidal and wind energy to power the production of hydrogen for use in Kirkwall and potentially for the hydrogen ferry that has been commissioned to service the route there. We have provided £4.3 million for the Levenmouth community energy project—also referred to by Mr Torrance, because it is in his constituency—which is demonstrating the role that hydrogen can play in a low-carbon energy system. We need to seize the moment and to build on those and other projects that are developing economically sustainable models for production and use of hydrogen.
From providing support, to grid balancing and utilising constrained renewable energy, to direct use in heat systems, through which we can see the currently very low percentage of hydrogen that is injected into the grid being increased over time, and to transport applications, hydrogen presents an opportunity to decarbonise our energy use significantly, while releasing the potential for new technologies, businesses and economic benefit across Scotland. The role and value of hydrogen in our future energy system will form part of our electricity and gas networks vision statement, which we will publish shortly.
As the First Minister said at First Minister’s question time, the Scottish Government wants the transition to a low-carbon economy to be a just one that ensures that no one is left behind as our technological and economic landscape develops. That is why we have established the just transition commission, which met for the first time on 31 January and will consider how the benefits of transition to a low-carbon economy can be shared widely across Scotland.
Although the emergence of new technologies provides an opportunity for Scotland to become a world leader in low-carbon innovation, it also has the potential to provide high-quality job opportunities for people across Scotland. An element that has not been mentioned in the debate, but which is very important as we roll out low-carbon transport, is skills. The energy skills partnership and Skills Development Scotland are working to support Scotland’s learning institutions to develop the skills base that is needed to deliver and maintain a sustainable low-carbon transport system that provides economic and environmental benefits for Scotland, as well as for individuals. I know that that includes provision of electric vehicles to colleges so that they can train the apprentices of the future and retrain people who are already in the workforce in order to adapt their skills to service a growing fleet of electric vehicles.
The shift towards low-carbon transport has the potential to unlock massive opportunities for Scotland. It is great that there is a great degree of consensus on that point. We believe that businesses will benefit from access to burgeoning new markets, and that individuals will also see huge benefits. However, we are already seeing encouraging progress in the uptake of battery electric and plug-in hybrid cars, and in the first steps towards the adoption of hydrogen bus fleets, rail and ferries.
I commend the Scottish cities alliance and its partners for the work that they are doing to encourage their members and neighbouring local authorities to adopt a more collective approach to their work on low-carbon transport and energy.
The Scottish Government will work closely with all colleagues in the chamber who have an interest in the matter. I thank everyone for their constructive tone in the debate and look forward to working with them as we decarbonise our transport system.
13:18 Meeting suspended.
14:30 On resuming—