Appraising renewable energy developments in remote communities: the case of the North Assynt Estate, Scotland

Renewable sources of energy currently supply just 1% of energy consumption in the United Kingdom (ENDS, 1998. The Ends Report No. 277, Environmental D ata Services Ltd, pp. 43, 44). In this paper two economic appraisal techniq ues are applied with the aim of evaluating three renewable energy options: a three-turbine wind farm, a small-scale hydro scheme and biomass developme nt - for a remote community in North West Scotland. Many renewable energy r esources throughout Europe are concentrated by their nature in such remote areas. A strategy whereby remote communities could develop these resources could bring economic benefits to these areas: however. both financial and e nvironmental cost implications also need to be addressed. An integral aspec t of the research described herein was to develop approaches that could be followed and adapted for use by other communities wishing to plan for devel opment of renewable energy. After a discussion of the implementation and re sults gained from applying a visitor impact analysis and a residents' conti ngent valuation survey to our case study area (Assynt, in North West Scotla nd), we outline the advantages and limitations of using these techniques in other remote areas. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.