Before I moved to Scotland in 2007 I was one of the founders of Leicester Social Forum, one of the most successful forums in the UK.
The scalps we claimed included beating PFI schools – becoming the only city where the new schools were “sponsored” by the council – regularly fending off the council’s attempts to make local groups pay to hold street stalls in the city centre, and generally running the council ragged.
Local people started coming to us for help, not the council. We did this because someone had to do it, but we also had to convince the community that we could do it (even I was sceptical at first) – “another world is possible” only if the people want to make it possible. I firmly believe that this is the attitude we need to take to developing sustainable district heating in rural Scotland.
We only need to look at almost any area of Scottish Government policy to see lip service being paid to communities outside the central belt. Rural people don’t make up much of the electorate, they’re often at a big disadvantage when it comes to collective capacity to act, and so are at the hard end of Scotland’s democratic deficit, and they’re much more likely to be fuel poor.
District heating isn’t going to be the solution for every community, but Danish success stories from communities such as Vojens, Marstal, and Dronninglund have shown how modern “fourth generation” systems can revolutionise heating in rural and semi-rural communities.
These systems combine large solar thermal arrays with inter-seasonal heat stores and one or more of any number of other technologies – particularly biomass from sustainable local sources, heat recovery, and large ground and water source heat pumps. And the cost per unit of heat delivered is easily competitive with other renewable technologies.
Common Weal has long argued that Danish-style district heating must be part of Scotland’s energy future. Our “Powering Our Ambitions”, “Just Warmth”, and “Carbon Free, Poverty Free” policy papers place it front and centre as an energy solution. One that comes with additional benefits in the form of job creation and, where local resource supply chains are developed alongside it, to enhance biodiversity and create new recreation and tourism opportunities. But it is a complex task, and one which requires bringing everyone on board.
As a self-styled “think and do” tank, we never lose sight of the “do”. And now, thanks to funding from the Scotland Beyond Net Zero fund that has enabled Glasgow Caledonian University and Heriot Watt University to partner with us, we will be co-hosting a free symposium on developing sustainable rural district heating at Heriot Watt’s Borders Campus, Galashiels, on April 2 2025 (and online). We have a fantastic line-up of speakers, including Morten Duedahl of DBDH, a world-leading expert in the field; a representative of the Danish Energy Agency; and industry speakers from Sav Systems, SWEP, HEATWEB Solutions, Alfa Laval AB, STAR Refrigeration, Vattenfall, and others.
READ MORE: State-organised action is needed to modernise our heating systems
We’ll also have a session on consumer regulation and engagement with James Hemphill of the Scottish Government and Alistair Hill of Consumer Scotland; and contributions from Sarah Boyack MSP, Luke Fraser of the Scottish Islands Federation, Paul Gilbert of South of Scotland Enterprise, our own Ron Mould and Robin McAlpine, and more tbc.
Naturally, there’ll be a new policy paper to follow it, but that’s not enough for us. We want this event to lead to consortia being formed, projects being planned, pipes going in the ground, and communities lifted out of fuel poverty. This won’t happen overnight but we have to start somewhere, and that somewhere will be by getting as many brains together in Galashiels and online as we can. So, whether you’re part of a company or organisation that wants to be part of this journey, or from a community that could benefit from it, we’d love to see you there.
You can find the latest agenda and register via our EventBrite page here.