The above report sponsored by the Carbon Trust and the Scottish Government confirms what most of us already knew:

As expected, these Scottish locations are presented as part of the UK which they are, for the moment. This, below, details the huge Scottish floating wind farms and reminds us of how the UK Government is constraining further growth:

Ah but the very last thing in Westminster
Interests is for to make aware that the SCOTS hae a 2nd energy bonanza sitting in their laps
After all we well aware whit they done wi the 1st one and this time an nae debate aboot it
Its oor energy and were taken it by Independence
So awa and piss of
Westminster calls this 1.Keep the buggers ignorant and by all means possible
And to those they allocate this insidious task they say
2.Dunnae wurry we shall keep the Bastards doon
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If had an evergreen criticism of the ScotGov it would be that they should govern more as if we were already independent.
Like STV multi-member awards for Holyrood instead of the hybrid system (not actually my preferred but better than current and consistent with local gov).
But to the matter in hand…
The ScotGov needs to invest in renewables directly. Think Norway’s sovereign oil wealth fund but for the 21stC. Yes it would be tokenistic but it’s the seed that shows how independence could be better (rather than us telling folk it will be)
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*revenue generating renewables
I know they already support the sector in other ways.
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The ScotGov HAVE been investing in renewables, it’s how we have renewable energy, enough to power Scotland twice over. The EngGov haven’t invested in renewables in Scotland, there was a ‘subsidy’ system, across the UK to invest in wing farms, this was removed from Scotland very recently. The EngGov are investing hugely in England however, and Scotland is helping (having their taxes used) fund that investment.
The EngGov are going to attempt to hijack Scotland’s renewables capacity, as with other initiatives that the Scottish Government have instigated successfully, using Scotland’s own money. Water, rail, renewables, it’s all up for grabs. There was an interesting article in ‘live energy news’ other day, something about a wind farm. The title said something like, ‘ the first new wind farm built with no subsidy in Scotland’.
It’s of course written by a person in England, who obviously could not hold back on the subsidy myth again, the idea that Scotland is in general subsidised by their philanthropic, kindly southern neighbour lol.
Scotland could be compromised in energy though, because the ‘National Grid’ is situated in England, that’s control for you. Also, the network needs an upgrade to cope with renewables capacity, far as I know, that investment is a reserved power to EngGov and they are concenrating on England’s network capacity.
Given the costs of mitigating EngGov austerity, and cuts to the ‘budget’, and now Covid19, it will take Scotland’s government to work miracles to afford to keep investing in infrastructure and the environment etc. The EngGov must be laughing their fat heads off right now, Scotland’s struggling financially, ha ha ha!
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Wind farms, not wing! G is nowhere near d on the keypad sigh.
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Now if I’d only waited a few minutes I wouldn’t have had to write my comment below!
That’ll learn me…
I thought it might turn out to be along the lines of what you’ve written though. 😦
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Apologies, I missed a really important part of my original comment. Direct revenue-generating renewables!
I know they’ve been doing a heck a lot more than UK Gov, but that’s for the greater good and its private firms making profit.
All I was trying to say is, the ScotGov should be getting a slice of that profit pie back more directly.
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Is there any way we could just cut off the elecricity supply to England?
Maybe a wee accident to the cable, just enough to make it intermittend and unreliable, but with a bupass to make sure scotland didnt lose out.
it is ridiculous that we currently supply England with free power that we have to pay to send to the Grid.
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And that is after already miss appropriation of
460,000,000,000
Barrels of oil and the tally grown daily
Ah well did they not tell us 45 yrs ago
That there was barely enough to fill the tank of a mini car
Just the same as they did with Saudi Arabia 60 yrs ago
And for what it is worth that in Iraq war 2
That when US & UK HAD won
And for 27 days the only institution in Iraq
That was secured was GUESS
It was The Oil Ministry
All whilst banks,museums and art galleries etc.were being looted wholesale
Know thy Foe
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Sounds good to me, but how would that investment be financed?
Would Westminster ‘let’ ScotGov do that? Even if they could claim it was a “massive, world-beating” investment made by “the UK”?
As you can tell, I’m woefully ignorant about things like that. Give me a couple of years and I’ll have caught up! (Is it too much to hope that in a couple of years I wouldn’t need to catch up, because we’d be out?)
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If the ScotGov can support first time buyers by sharing the ownership of a property (https://www.gov.scot/policies/homeowners/low-cost-initiative-for-first-time-buyers/) they can do similar for revenue-generating renewables.
Scale is the issue though, we can only do so much now. When independent we could do a whole lot more.
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If the ScotGov can co-invest in first time buyer’s homes (https://www.gov.scot/policies/homeowners/low-cost-initiative-for-first-time-buyers/) then it can do similar for revenue-generating renewables.
Scale is part of it too, we can only do small fry now compared to what we can do when independent.
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I so wished I retained the article I read a good few yrs back
And cannot even recall the publication it appeared or the Authors name
But he was a Renowned economic energy
Expert who stated
Scotland is the new Saudi Arabia with its massive potential in renewable energy
Which the World must switch to speed
If it us to mitigate the looming disaster of climate change
And believe it not he actually said Westminster was deliberately holding back its development for purely reasons of politics
Ah A Evil Empire it is indeed
Know thy Foe
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https://www.energylivenews.com/2020/01/31/sse-renewables-to-build-its-first-subsidy-free-wind-farm-in-scotland/
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https://angusmacneilsnp.com/2020/06/18/isles-mp-requests-sse-release-seagreen-plans-for-offshore-wind-farm/
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Interesting articles, ArtyHetty. Thanks
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