Nicola Sturgeon has said she is "cautiously
optimistic" that a global deal on climate change is imminent, but returned
home from a UN summit in Paris to stinging criticism of her own Government's
renewable energy policy.
The First Minister, who represented Scotland at the meeting
of world leaders in the French capital, has claimed that her administration is
setting an example to the world by imposing tough targets on greenhouse gas
emissions and renewable energy generation.
She also won plaudits after announcing that a fund to help
communities in third world countries deal with climate change would double to
£12 million over four years.
However, a leading economist has accused the Scottish
Government of focusing too much on electricity and ignoring other important
areas that could lead to a reduction in greenhouse emissions at home.
Tony Mackay, who has specialised in energy economics for
three decades, also said that progress with offshore wind farms in Scottish
waters had been "very disappointing" with progress on marine and
tidal energy "even worse".
He said that while a lot of electricity was being generated
from renewables, mostly onshore wind farms, far more needed to be done to
reduce reliance on oil and gas on roads and in homes.
In a submission to Holyrood's economy, energy and tourism
committee, he said: "Renewable energy is very important for electricity
generation in Scotland but it could also make a much greater contribution to
other demands such as transport and domestic energy consumption. I believe that
these issues have been neglected by the Scottish Government and other bodies.
"For example, biofuels could replace some of the petrol
and diesel used for road transport... but there has been little interest in
Scotland. I also believe that we should do be doing much more to reduce
transport demand, notably through better public transport.
"Similarly, I believe there is great potential for
reducing gas consumption in the domestic sector in Scotland but regrettably
that is a low priority of the Government."
Mr Mackay also backed the UK Government's move of cutting subsidies
for onshore wind, saying foreign companies and landowners had made
"supernormal profits" and that the cash could now be better spend in
supporting new technologies.
He added: "I am strongly in favour of public sector
investment in energy research and development (R&D), particularly for
marine energy. However, the R&D funds to date have been badly managed and
resulted in huge losses of public sector money."
The Scottish Government has said it wants renewable sources
to generate the equivalent of 100 per cent of Scotland's gross annual
electricity consumption by the end of the decade, a target Ms Sturgeon
highlighted yesterday while in Paris.
The SNP leader added: "Scotland is leading by example
when it comes to tackling climate change - we've got some of the toughest
statutory emissions reduction targets anywhere in the world, and we're on track
to meet them, we're already generating roundabout half of our electricity
demand from renewable energy... so there's much we are doing that others can
look at and learn from. Equally, we've got a lot to learn from others, we've
got a long way to go."
Patrick Harvie, the Green MSP and his party's economy and
energy spokesman, said that the Scottish Government should be doing "much
more" to improve public transport, reduce energy demand in housing and
support marine energy research.
He added: "Shifting to sustainable transport has never
been a priority for any Scottish Government since devolution began, yet the evidence
is clear that investing in sustainable and active transport delivers benefits
in terms of public health, social justice, the economy and climate change
emissions.
"Mr Mackay’s evidence underlines the Scottish
Government’s more-of-everything energy strategy when a responsible strategy
would be transition towards clean technology, decommissioning and demand
reduction and away from fossil fuels, a point the unions working in the oil and
gas sector recently agreed with me on in committee."
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