Charge Aggravations: Racial^1,2,4

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The charges referred to at (e) were not included as separate charges in any court proceedings or other action, but action was taken in relation to other charges against the accused.

4. The table reflects the position at 9 September 2008.

Charge Aggravations: Religious^1,2,5

Notes:

1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service''s Case Management Database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a Procurator Fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency the database will record details only of the amended charge.

2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

3. The charges referred to at (e) were not included as separate charges in any court proceedings or other action, but action was taken in relation to other charges against the accused.

4. The use of religious aggravations commenced on 27 June 2003, part way through the 2003-04 financial year.

5. The table reflects the position at 9 September 2008.

If fitted with carbon capture and storage equipment, estimates from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are that emissions from coal-fired generation would fall by up to 90%.

Where renewable energy replaces thermal generation without carbon capture and storage, a significant reduction in carbon emissions may also be expected.

In the current financial year, the Scottish Government has contributed £75,000 to the Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage towards the Scottish carbon capture and storage (CCS) joint study, which will identify storage sites for carbon captured from future thermal power stations, as well as addressing transportational and economic issues. This supports funding from a range of private sector partners.

Scottish Enterprise has awarded R&D Plus funding support of £2.84 million over the current spending review period to Doosan Babcock for the creation of a research centre specialising in research into clean coal and CCS technologies. This funding was announced on 1 July.

In addition, we are currently further developing the business plan for the Scottish European Green Energy Centre, which will foster research and commercialisation opportunities for Scottish universities and industry including in clean coal technologies.

It will be for the industry to bring forward proposals for new or replacement capacity, and Scottish ministers will consider each on its merits under our consenting powers in the Electricity Act 1989. We will be consulting shortly on new guidance for applications for consent to construct thermal power generation.

We are also playing an enabling role to assist the development of CCS more generally such as funding research into identifying future carbon stores and participating in the UK Energy Bill''s provisions on carbon storage.

We believe that all of this work will ensure that CCS technologies will be ready for deployment in Scotland at the earliest possible opportunity.