Scotland can be 'pioneer' of green energy revolution

Scotland's renewable power pioneers have the potential to be the Rockefellers of the "21st-century energy revolution", Energy Minster Fergus Ewing said today.

Addressing the Scottish Parliament, Mr Ewing set out his plans to make Scotland the "green-energy powerhouse of Europe", evoking the spirit of a US oil tycoon whose success in the petroleum boom of the 19th century made him one of history's greatest industrialists and philanthropists.

He said: "In 1865 in Cleveland, Ohio, Maurice Clark met with his business partner to hold an auction at which one partner would buy the business from the other. He sold his half of the business to his partner. A cheque was offered but they settled on a handshake.

"His partner's name was John D Rockefeller and the business became the Standard Oil Company.

"Little did either of them know that the business would go on to become the biggest in the world, and would subsequently be split to form Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Amoco, Conoco and other companies that dominate the oil industry today.

"There is no way that either man could have known that petroleum would become the biggest business in the world in 1865. But today we all know that fossil fuels are a finite resources. We cannot say exactly when they will run out but we do know with absolute certainty that we must find replacements."

Mr Ewing said Scotland "has a unique natural endowment" which includes an estimated quarter of Europe`s offshore wind and tidal resource and a tenth of its wave energy potential.

He added: "Scotland therefore has an opportunity to be amongst the pioneers of the 21st-century energy revolution. John Rockefeller could not have predicted in 1865 the success nor the size of the oil industry but we can today foresee and predict with near certainty that renewables will become a massive business employing millions of people throughout the globe."

The Scottish Government has committed to generating 100% of Scotland`s electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and estimates that the current 60,000 renewables-related jobs in Scotland will expand to 130,000 in the meantime.

Mr Ewing said electricity generation will be doubled to the equivalent to 200% of consumption, meaning Scotland would be an energy exporter.

Mr Ewing also called on MSPs to support demands for the release of Scotland's fossil fuel levy surplus for investment in renewable energy, support the devolution of the Crown Estate to take control of Scotland`s natural assets and support the campaign to locate the Green Investment Bank in Edinburgh.