Leader: Green targets must be realistic

But as heritage campaigners have long known, and electricity consumers are now finding out, this warm embrace is not without cost. The intrusion of wind turbines and giant pylons across areas of outstanding natural beauty have created strong, vocal and widely supported opposition. These concerns continue, not only over the very limited plans to take the Beauly-Denny line underground, but also over wind farm developments that many fear will damage Scotland’s appeal as a tourist destination.

Al Gore’s climate change thesis is also not without its critics. Some of its boldest assertions have come under serious questioning from climatologists, so this is, to put it no stronger, by no means an exact science. The case for renewable energy is perhaps strongest on geo-political grounds. Over time, the increasing development of indigenous sources of renewable power will mean we will be less at the mercy of unforeseeable disruption. Russian gas supplies could prove again to be politically vulnerable. And dependence on Middle East oil is under increasing question. Events this year have vividly illustrated the political instability in the region.

The case for the First Minister’s highly ambitious renewable energy targets is at its weakest in economic terms. We are pouring billions of pounds into the development of wind energy, which is highly expensive relative to the costs of other energy sources. Many fear that this is closing down options and backing us into a potentially dangerous corner. Shale gas, for example, is fast emerging as a potentially much cheaper energy source.

A timely warning on the dangers of over- reliance on renewable energy and its costs came in a speech last night by Scottish Chambers of Commerce chairman Mike Salter. The recent sharp increases in electricity prices are due in part to the government’s Renewables Obligation by which the consumer subsidises renewable generation. The cost of electricity from a recently announced wind farm project in the North Sea is now approaching 19p per kilowatt-hour against the current wholesale spot price of between 1.75p and 2p per kilowatt-hour. With the Scottish Government now committed to having most of our energy from such sources by 2020, Mr Salter’s warning “Have a care!” is well made.

The pace and scale of this development must be determined by what the economy and householders can afford – not just abstract, lofty targets that could put growth in danger and hit the least well-off the hardest.

Leader: Green targets must be realistic – economically