Jim Mather: Offshore resources: if we've got them, we should flaunt them

LAST year, the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously, with strong support from civic society and business, to commit us to world-leading greenhouse gas reduction targets – an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050. Achieving such targets requires action not only from government but from all of us.

This transition to a low-carbon economy presents exciting opportunities for Scotland. With as much as a quarter of Europe's tidal energy resources and a tenth of the potential wave capacity, the powers of our seas are unrivalled in Europe. Nearly a quarter of our electricity demand comes from renewables – and with almost the same capacity under construction or consented, we could power Scotland many times over with this potential.

The Offshore Valuation Study published this week – the first comprehensive economic valuation of the UK's offshore renewable energy resources to 2050 – validates our policy. Scotland's total practical offshore resource is estimated at 206 gigawatts. By harnessing around a third of that resource, installed offshore renewables capacity could reach 68GW in Scotland by 2050. The net value of Scotland's 68GW of offshore resource in terms of electricity sales is estimated at 14 billion by 2050.

We are building a low-carbon economy which offers opportunities for investment; up to 60,000 Scottish green jobs could be created by 2020. New jobs could include an additional 26,000 in renewables, 26,000 in emerging low-carbon technologies and a further 8,000 in environmental management. These are on top of the 70,000 jobs that already exist in low-carbon sectors. Low-carbon goods and services will be worth an estimated 12 billion by 2015.

We are working with business and enterprise partners to discuss the collective priorities for stimulating low-carbon economic growth as an integral part of the government's economic strategy.

The world's first commercial wave and tidal leasing round has been in the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters. These ten project agreements could generate as much as 1.2GW of marine energy off the north coast – enough to power up to 700,000 homes – and capital investment of up to 4bn in the next decade.

In offshore wind, Scotland must exploit the opportunities to lead the world in this dynamic new sector. We are in the enviable position that we already have 40 years of world-class offshore experience and expertise from the oil and gas sector.

We are also seeking to push forward innovation in marine power through the Saltire Prize, our 10 million global challenge to harness the power of the sea, which has attracted interest from across the globe and is now open for entries. The prize will cement Scotland's reputation as a global leader in marine energy technology.

There is also much potential across domestic and rapidly expanding global markets such as green energy, sustainable transport, energy efficiency, waste, recycling and pollution. All the estimates show that the jobs potential, demand for new skills, and supply chain benefits could be vast.

As we emerge from recession, we have an opportunity to develop new, low-carbon products and services to accelerate economic recovery and drive long-term sustainable economic growth. We must seize the opportunity and make the transition a reality.

• Jim Mather, the minister for energy and enterprise, is keynote speaker at The Scotsman conference, Can The Green Economy Deliver for Scotland? on Monday. For more details, see www.scotsmanconferences.com.