Stirling expertise to inform inquiry into Scotland’s energy future

University of Stirling expertise will contribute to a major inquiry into Scotland’s energy future.

Gavin Little, Professor of Environmental and Public Law at the University of Stirling, is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s (RSE) newly launched Energy Inquiry Committee.

The RSE's Energy Inquiry will contribute to the important debate around Scotland’s energy supply, demand and use. It will also look to inform the policy and decision-making at a Scottish, UK and international level that will ultimately decide whether the path Scotland chooses to follow provides the resources needed at acceptable financial, moral, ethical and environmental costs.

Professor Gavin Little is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s (RSE) newly launched Energy Inquiry Committee. Images © Gary Doak, courtesy of the RSE.

Professor Little’s research addresses environmental and energy law and public law regulation; and developing new, interdisciplinary approaches to legal scholarship. A key theme in his work is integrating legal and regulatory analysis with politics, public administration, history and culture.

The committee, which is expected to sit for around eighteen months, will consider how Scotland can meet future energy demand and how to ensure that the energy used is secure, affordable and environmentally justifiable.

Energy needs

It will also examine all areas of the debate around Scotland’s energy future in the context of its commitment to combat global climate change and the environmental imperative to reduce carbon emissions.  

Chair of the RSE’s Energy Inquiry Committee, Sir Muir Russell KCB DL FRSE, said, “The Royal Society of Edinburgh has decided to initiate this Inquiry, “Scotland’s Energy Future”, at a time when Scotland’s energy landscape is constantly changing.  As the ways in which we heat our homes, fuel our cars, and power our places of work continue to evolve, important questions arise of what Scotland’s energy needs will be in the coming decades, and how this demand is to be met.

"This Inquiry aims to contribute to the debate about Scotland’s energy supply, demand and use, recognising our moral and environmental responsibilities. It is intended to provide a forum in which difficult and contentious issues can be debated, enabling a synthesis of objective advice to policy makers in Scotland and beyond.”

Professor Little of the University of Stirling, said: “I am looking forward to serving on the Energy Inquiry Committee, which is taking place as renewable energy is gaining real momentum and we are now embarking on the challenging process of de-carbonising heating and transport.

“Much has been achieved in Scotland in recent years, and, looking to the future, it is important that we conduct a rigorous and objective analysis of our energy supply, demand and use, and the responsibilities we have as a nation for the energy we consume.”

More information on Scotland’s Energy Future can be found on the Inquiry section of the RSE website or contact Professor Gavin Little email: g.f.m.little@stir.ac.uk.