Scotland has 25% of Europe’s renewable energy potential, and a huge array of sources to draw on, including tidal, wave, hydro and wind power.

The time has come for Scotland to harness this bountiful resource, and end its reliance on outdated, polluting and increasingly expensive fossil fuels.

Photo: Jonathan Osborne

Power of Scotland

The SNP Government has an impressive target of generating enough renewable energy to meet 100% of Scottish electricity demand by 2020.  But as well as scaling up our renewables, we could set a practical example to the rest of Europe and:

• phase out our dangerous and dirty sources of energy, such as coal and nuclear: As our Power of Scotland Secured report shows, by improving our transmission capacity, and making modest investments in demand management, energy storage, and energy efficiency, Scotland could phase out all its conventional thermal power by 2030, keep the lights on, and generate significant revenue from renewable exports.
• use 100% renewable electricity to power our cars and heat our homes, instead of oil and gas: if home heating and transport are electrified in line with our recommendations, we could decarbonise 50% of our total energy use by 2030, and make our overall 'triple fuel' bills cheaper than in conventional scenarios. 
• invest in energy efficiency: As well as creating warm homes this would save on people's fuel bills while providing thousands of jobs in the building and construction industries.

Carbon dinosaurs

There is a very real threat of a brand new coal fired power development at Hunterston.  Even with the proposed CCS technology fitted, this power station would be pumping out at least 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year for at least decade.  By 2020 this will be equivalent to a quarter of Scotland's entire emissions budget - hardly an inspiration for ordinary people to do their bit.

What's worse, the development is a financial liability for Scotland and a major threat to biodiversity. Find out why by reading our Ten Reasons to Object to Hunterston and add your voice to the campaign!

photo: Maverick Photo Agency

Clean Coal?

The fossil fuel industry is keen to publicise new coal as 'clean coal'. What this means is slightly more efficient energy plants, and the use of a new technology called carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Carbon capture and storage - a process which sees emissions from plants captured and stored deep under ground - has yet to be proven technically or financially feasible on a commercial scale. However, if this technology were to be proven to work, it could reduce emissions from coal plants by up to 90%. While we don't need coal power in Scotland, CCS technology may potentially prove helpful in stemming emissions from industries like steel and cement, and from existing powerstations around the world.

But we need to ensure that CCS is not used as a smoke screen for building new coal fired powerstations particularly when the technologies has yet to be properly tested on existing plants.  Let's not forget that what comes out of the smoke stack is only half the story.  Coal's deadly impact stretches right back to the start of the supply chain - the sooner we can end our reliance on this dirty fuel, the better. 

Our funders

Our Low Carbon Power campaign has been kindly funded by the European Climate Foundation. We are also grateful to have received a donation from Artists Project Earth UK to develop a Confident Communities Project from January 2011. 

Find out more

Read our Power of Scotland Secured report, which outlines how up to 185% of Scotland's electricity demand can be met by renewables by 2030.

Find out more about why the Hunterston development is the wrong proposal, at the wrong time and in the wrong place, and read our objection to the Scottish Government.