AS I SEE IT: Scottish Enterprise is in danger of narrowing the scope of its support for small firms, says TERRY MURDEN
Barely a day goes by without a company issuing news about its plans to cut nasty emissions and other environmentally bad practices, otherwise known as achieving ‘net zero’. Everybody, it seems, is going green and big businesses rather than the environmentalists are now leading the charge because big businesses have worked out that the green agenda wins customers and can make money.
Campaigners may have done their bit to alert the world to the climate and environmental crisis, while advances in technology have made it possible to create a society powered by clean electricity and hydrogen. But nothing drives change more than a financial reward. In its latest call for a green recovery from Covid-19 the CBI’s focus is not so just on cleaning up the planet, but on the £700 billion of economic benefits that awaits the UK this decade by doing so.
We will hear the same story when the world’s green ponderers and willing advocates meet in Glasgow at the end of the year for the COP26 climate change conference. Big businesses will be there, some of it through sponsorship, and mostly to proclaim their green credentials, knowing that they have learned how a better environmental record can benefit the bottom line.
But what of smaller firms who are about to face a government-enforced blueprint that could dent the ambitions of the next generation of growth companies?
Many small firms, including the vital startup and scaleup companies, see the green agenda as another cost and another regulation to take into account when trying to balance their books. While they share a desire to clean up the mess we’ve all created, many smaller firms are carrying huge amounts of Covid-related debt and must put cash flow and paying their bills at the top of their agenda.
Politicians must realise this when they’re devising their eco-driven policies. The language of government has changed to reflect these new priorities. In one recent press release from Scottish Enterprise the word “sustainable” appeared 16 times, a deliberate attempt to ensure we got the message.
‘Some just cannot meet the green thresholds that government policies are now demanding and it threatens to exclude them vital support’
Now the agency has unveiled a business plan with a condition that “businesses will be required to demonstrate their commitment to net zero and fair work as part of accessing Scottish Enterprise support”. That is a powerful clause that changes the rules of the game. It could underpin a new Scottish Enterprise slogan: Go green or go without.
It’s seven months since CEO Steve Dunlop left the agency (dubbed “Scottish Lentilprise” by one critic of the new green plan). There is talk that two candidates are in the frame to replace him, one currently with a Scottish university who is a former SE employee. Whoever gets the job will have no say on strategy as he or she will be handed the plan – and told to get on with it.
The government is, of course, right to drive the net zero agenda, but it must not push its luck by turning green targets into green barriers. Companies want to do all they can to help the environment, but some just cannot meet the green thresholds that government policies and edicts are demanding.
It appears from this new blueprint that any business applying for help without surefire green objectives will be on a hiding to nothing. If they are supplying services to the oil and gas industry or making anything with plastic components does that mean they will be excluded? Or will SE’s “conditions” allow such businesses to apply for help in turning these processes green? Let’s hope so, or we’ll be discarding a lot of exciting prospects before they get a chance to thrive.
tmurden@dailybusinessgroup.co.uk
Terry Murden formerly held senior positions at The Sunday Times, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and The Northern Echo and is now editor of Daily Business
Let me quote the views of a highly experienced engineer who really understands these matters
” To me, as a retired Mechanical Engineer, the political crap coming out of the mouths of most politicians, not only in Scotland, but across the Western World, is mythology of the biggest proportion. The whole thing simply does not add up to me, not by an inch, but by a mile. Neither the politicians nor the media reporters understand the issue.
“To go all electric, carbon neutral by 2050 is pie in the sky. We will need to build more hills in Scotland to house the extra wind turbines. The biggest turbines are sold with a rating of say 3MW, but, contrary to what you are lead to believe, on an annual basis it only produces 16% of this figure across the year.
“The 3MW is the power output at optimum wind speed, which is probably around 30mph. Neither god nor “Nicola Sturgeon has so far managed to get the wind to blow at a constant speed. At 16% effective output means on average power output throughout the year is roughly 500KW (for easy counting). On the other hand Hunterston B which will close next year has a constant 1200MW, day in and day out.
“To compensate for the loss of Hunterston we will need to build 2,400 extra wind turbines. Torness has a similar output of 1200MW and at present has a an end of life at 2030, which will likely be extended to 2040, because by 2030 we will have no other option safety or not. The U.K. has other nuclear stations at Hartlepool, Heysham, Hinckley, Dungeness and Sizewell. Only Sizewell has a life beyond the next few years.
“So in Scotland alone, to make up for the loss of Hunterston and Torness, we need another 5,000 wind turbines just to make up for the loss of both of these stations without all of the extra electricity we are going to use, according to Nicola etc., such as electric cars, electric heating etc.. where are we going to put the extra wind turbines?.
“So far we have not seen the impact of closing coal and nuclear stations, because the U.K. did have a surplus of generating capacity, which is disappearing fast and the price of electrical generation is spiralling.
“At present the domestic price of electricity is roughly 19p/kilowatt hour (KWH). The price of gas to your house and office is roughly 3.5p/KWH equivalent. Since most of our houses are heated by gas at present and when it is banned our energy bills per household will rise by roughly a factor of FIVE. At present my household energy bill is around £100/month(well insulated etc), but that will rise to approximately £500/month when gas is banned, at today’s prices.
“Scottish politicians today talk about people in fuel poverty. Just wait till whe go green. Nuts.
“Politicians will say we need heat pumps and solar panels. Heat pumps are pie in the sky and solar in Scotland? Show me the sunshine in Scotland. Yes, solar works, but has a low output compared to Spain etc or even the south of England.
“The other point about the demise of the oil industry in Scotland is that this industry has thousands of extremely well paid jobs, all of which are likely to disappear as are the tens of manufacturing and oil industry services companies down the east coast and across the central belt.”