2 | SPECIAL REPORT THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBERTHE SCOTSMAN
Objectors begin
warmingtoidea
of the turbine
IT HAS to be admitted that wind
farms are not entirely 100 per
cent popular, even those out at
sea. Yet there is growing evi-
dence that people are beginning
to accept them as part of the
Scottish scene.
Whilealmosteveryoneagrees
about the importance of wind
turbines in providing a carbon
emission-free form of electricity
generation, many people in the
past considered the turbines to
be noisy, obtrusive and un-
sightly.
More often than not, in Scot-
land there has been a difference
of opinion among local people
about wind farm developments,
especially those near populated
areas. Some objections have
been prolonged, and debates
have sometimes been heated.
Yet from a study of numerous
cases in which the company has
been involved over the years,
ScottishPower has been able to
demonstrate that once a wind
farm is up and running, public
opinion tends to shift in favour
of the turbines.
Their research echoed a
government study in the late
1990s which concluded that the
numbers against such develop-
ments would tend to dwindle
over time.
The proof of that assertion
was provided by the develop-
ment of Europe's biggest wind
farm at Eaglesham Moor to the
south west of Glasgow.
With a total of 140 turbines
now operational, Whitelee will
eventually have a capacity of
ANDREW COLLIER
Emissions
targets drive
Scottish push
for renewables
Scotland'swindandseaenergyresourcesarepotentiallyhuge,and
a massive effort is under way to harness them, says MartinHannan
O
N 4 AUGUST, with
mysteriouslylittlefan-
fare, the Royal Assent
was given to the most
important piece of climate
change legislation yet passed in
this country.
The Climate Change (Scot-
land) Act 2009 was passed
unanimously by the Scottish
Parliament, setting mandatory
targets for Scotland to reduce its
greenhouse gas production by
80 per cent by 2050, with an in-
terim target of 42 per cent by
2020. These are tough targets,
even with the force of law
behind them, and they will not
be achievable without a massive
switch to renewable sources of
clean green energy.
Sincedevolutionadecadeago,
successive Holyrood adminis-
trationshavemadeastrongcom-
mitment to renewables. In 2003,
the then Scottish Executive set
what was widely seen as an over-
ambitious target of 40 per cent
of all Scotland's electricity to
come from renewable resources
by 2020.
But such has been the
progress that the Scottish Gov-
ernment has now set an even
more ambitious target of 50 per
cent of electric power to come
from renewables by 2020, with
the18percentleveltobereached
by 2010. Some experts said that
was impossible, but that first 18
per cent target has already been
achieved well ahead of schedule.
In this supplement we look at
the potential of wind, wave, and
tidal power to help meet those
targets � a timely review, given
that we are just weeks away from
the UN Climate Change Confer-
ence in Copenhagen.
Scotland has a world lead in
tidalpowerinparticular,andthe
targets set in the groundbreak-
ing Climate Change Act mean
theScottishGovernmentshould
be listened to at Copenhagen.
AScottishGovernmentspokes-
woman said: "Given the Scottish
Government's world-leading
targets on reducing emissions to
address climate change, we fully
expect to have a minister attend-
ing the crucial climate change
talks in Copenhagen."
The Scottish targets would be
vastly exceeded if the extraordi-
nary potential of the most abun-
dant renewable resources of all �
wind and sea � were effectively
harnessed.
Kerr McGregor, who advises
the Scottish Government on
renewables, explained: "These
targets are quite realistic for
Scotland because there is so
much renewable energy we can
exploit � the potential is enor-
mous. And I've no doubt the tar-
gets can be achieved."
Probablythemostexcitingde-
velopment in renewables is the
work being done on tidal power.
Tidal resources around Scotland
are huge, and it stands to reason
that of all potential renewable
energy sources, tidal power is by
far the most reliable.
The Scottish Government-
backedEuropeanMarineEnergy
CentretestingfacilityonOrkney
is a key component of the Scot-
tish approach to developing
marine renewables. EMEC will
be central to the process because
it will allow testing of devices
which can be connected to the
grid, and the tests will also
deliver accurate results.
In the numerous areas of
strong tides around Scotland
there is potential for thousands
of megawatts of renewable
power generation, which will be
predictable in volume and sup-
ply and thus much easier to as-
similate into the national grid.
If Scotland can keep its lead in
wave and tidal power, the finan-
cial benefits could be huge,
added McGregor, though he
points to an opportunity that's
already been lost: "In Denmark
there are 20,000 people now
working in the wind energy in-
dustry, and because of previous
reliance on nuclear power we've
missed out on that bonanza.
"ButI'mdelightedtheScottish
Government is putting so much
emphasis on marine renewables
�onoffshorewindandwaveand
tidal power � because we have
world leaders in this technology
and we are already seeing one
company, Pelamis, selling wave
power generators to other coun-
tries. In terms of jobs alone, the
possible benefits to the Scottish
economy are massive."
Scotland is
targeting an 80
per cent cut in
greenhouse
gases by 2050
Picture: Jane Barlow

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