ORKNEY'S ENERGY FUTURE
ROAD TRANSPORT
BACKGROUND
ROAD USE
The largest road network is on the Orkney Mainland which extends to connect the islands of Burray and South Ronaldsay (Figure 1). Despite the isolation of the islands, the road transport sector makes up 18% of the non-renewable energy demand. The road use on Orkney is dominated by cars which contribute to 65% of the road use (Figure 2; [1]) and are the main contributor to non-renewable energy demand of the road transport sector. As such, cars will be the focus for decarbonisation. The number of cars is directly related to the number of households which has steadily increased over the past twenty years. Although Orkney has a dispersed population, it has one of the highest car ownership levels in Scotland [2]. There are currently 11,300 cars on Orkney, of which 98% are fuelled by petrol (45%) and diesel (53%) [3]. Decarbonising the domestic road transport sector will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of Orkney’s energy system.
Figure 1: Orkney road network [4].
Figure 2: Breakdown of the road use in Orkney by vehicle type. ‘Other vehicles’ includes rear diggers, rollers, ambulances, Hackney Carriages, three wheelers and agricultural vehicles [1].
LEADERS IN INNOVATION
Orkney residents pride themselves in leading innovation into renewable energy technologies. With an aim to decarbonise by the end of 2030, the road transport sector has been modified over the last ten years. Orkney holds an ‘Electric Vehicle Strategy’ [5] and a ‘Hydrogen Strategy’ [6] that both aim to reduce road transport greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 2012, there has been a continuous rise in the number of electric vehicles (EVs) registered in Orkney [5]. This drive towards zero-emission vehicles has led to a greater number of EVs per capita than Scotland as a whole – 2.2% in Orkney compared to 0.44% in Scotland (Figure 3). Currently, there are 280 EVs registered in Orkney [7]. The Electric Vehicle Strategy was produced by Orkney EV-driving residents through the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum (OREF). It is expected that there will be approximately 1,000 EVs on Orkney’s roads by 2023 [5] and the purpose of the Strategy is to show the pathway towards this.
Figure 3: Comparison charts showing the proportion of electric vehicles in Orkney and Scotland in 2020 [7].
To encourage the switch to zero-emission vehicles, the ReFLEX project [8] offers fixed tariffs and discounts on EV leases through DriveElectric, an electric car leasing company [9]. Currently, there are 12 public charging locations on the Mainland, Burray and Shapinsay. Although some public infrastructure is in place, the purchase of a domestic charging point is usually required when purchasing an EV.
As a forward-thinking island community, there are several hydrogen projects to establish the development of hydrogen fuel. The Hydrogen Strategy is a community owned document that proposes near-future goals for the development of hydrogen. It aims to promote green hydrogen in Orkney and increase the number of hydrogen vehicles [6]. The main goal is to advance the use of hydrogen in Orkney to promote sustainable living with an aim to achieve a lasting positive impact on sustainability within the local community that coincides with the Orkney Sustainable Energy Strategy [10].
The BIG HIT project supplies hydrogen fuel for five council vans [11]. The hydrogen is produced using two electrolysers in Shapinsay and Eday from renewable electricity produced from wind and tidal energy (Figure 4). The hydrogen is transported via ferry to Kirkwall, where there is a hydrogen refuelling station for the vans.
Figure 4: BIG HIT project map showing the electrolyser and renewable generation locations, as well as the transport routes between Eday, Shapinsay and Kirkwall [11].
Biofuel is an alternative to electricity or hydrogen for powering vehicles. Orkney Biofuels Limited specialises in making biofuel from peat and wood pellets [12]. This fuel source is not zero-carbon and as such is not expected to have a prominent future in Orkney’s energy system. Orkney does not have the materials required to supply biofuel for the island’s population and using biofuel would not be in line with the plan to fully decarbonise.
DECARBONISATION TECHNOLOGIES
The technologies considered for decarbonising the domestic use within the road transport sector were electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel and biofuel. These options were scored based on five criteria:
-
Development stage
-
Capital cost of development
-
Suitability
-
Efficiency
-
Carbon dioxide emissions
The decision matrix, with the scores for each technology, is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Decision matrix used to determine the preferred decarbonisation technology for domestic road transport.
The main considerations when completing the decision matrix were:
-
The development stage of each technology plays a key part in deciding which option is the most viable because it determines the rate of uptake for the islands. It also determines the suitability for near future implementation.
-
All options would be expected to reduce the CO₂ emissions of the road transport sector, so the capital cost was considered to be more important.
-
The capital cost includes any new infrastructure required. Hydrogen and biofuel production would have greater storage and transportation requirements than electric vehicles.
-
Orkney’s location and geography affects the suitability of each technology. For example, biofuel materials would be required to be imported as there are little to no forests on Orkney.
Based on this, EVs are the preferred technology and were used to model the electricity demand for cars in the domestic road transport sector.
REFERENCES
[1] UK Government, “Vehicle Statistics: All Vehicles (VEH0104),” 9 December 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/all-vehicles-veh01. [Accessed 16 February 2021].
[2] Orkney Islands Council, “Orkney's Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy,” May 2014. [Online]. [Accessed 4 May 2021].
[3] UK Government, “Road transport energy consumption at regional and local authority level,” 25 June 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/road-transport-energy-consumption-at-regional-and-local-authority-level. [Accessed 16 February 2021].
[4] Orkney Islands Council, “Orkney Economic Review,” 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Files/Business-and-Trade/Economic_Review/Economic_Review_2018.pdf. [Accessed 12 April 2021].
[5] Orkney Renewable Energy Forum, “Orkney Electric Vehicle Strategy 2018-2023,” 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.oref.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/20180327-Final-Orkney-EV-Strategy-2018-23.pdf. [Accessed 12 April 2021].
[6] Orkney Islands Council, “Orkney Hydrogen Strategy, The Hydrogen Islands 2019-2025,” 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.oref.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Hydrogen-Strategy.pdf. [Accessed 12 April 2021].
[7] UK Government, “All Vehicles (VEH0131),” 9 December 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/all-vehicles-veh01#ultra-low-emissions-vehicles-ulevs. [Accessed 4 April 2021].
[8] ReFLEX Orkney Limited, “ReFlex Orkney,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.reflexorkney.co.uk. [Accessed 11 April 2021].
[9] Fleetdrive Management Limited, “Drive Electric,” 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.drive-electric.co.uk/. [Accessed 11 April 2021].
[10] Orkney Islands Council, “Sustainable Orkney Energy Strategy 2017-2025,” 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Council/C/soes-2017-2025.htm. [Accessed 22 April 2021].
[11] Orkney Islands Council, “BIGHIT,” [Online]. Available: https://www.bighit.eu. [Accessed 11 April 2021].
[12] Orkney Biofuels Limited, “A summary of the biofuels processing project 2003-2012,” 2012. [Online]. Available: http://www.globalislands.net/userfiles/scotland_5.pdf. [Accessed 14 April 2021].
[13] Orkney International Science Festival, “Orkney's Energy Revolution: Hydrogen & Energy Systems,” YouTube, 3 September 2020. [Video File]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCfYGdsSXSc&t=2389s. [Accessed 1 February 2021].
[14] UK Government, “Road Traffic Statistics (TRA),” 10 September 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/road-traffic-statistics-tra. [Accessed 8 February 2021].