Reaching the 100% renewable target may now be possible, but sustaining it might be trickier

When the Scottish Government set itself the target of generating 100% of the country’s electricity from renewables by 2020 many people scoffed. Now that goal is only six years away. Is it reachable? Remember that commitment is only for electricity. On the surface the target is ambitious but achievable. In 2010 Scotland generated just short of 50,000 GWh of electricity, of which 19% came from renewables - mostly large scale hydro and wind power. A necessary increase of 80% in 10 years sounds a lot, but even though the future potential for large-scale hydropower is very limited, Scotland could do it.