Energy urgency
I was surprised to read in Rebecca McCurdy’s article (Scotsman, November 5) that a coalition of environmental groups are urging Nicola Sturgeon to use her appearance at COP27 to act on reducing emissions in Scotland.
Achieving net zero emissions in Scotland from the energy sector will not be possible without the UK government de-carbonising the national electricity grid, which will mean substantially increasing the capacity of nuclear generating plants.
It may be better if Ms Sturgeon urgently speaks to the UK government to reduce emissions. This may be difficult for her, as she has the mistaken belief that net zero can be achieved using renewable sources of energy only.
What is particularly worrying is that the Scottish Government do not appear to have energy experts in the Scottish Office who would be in a position to advise them that their energy policy will not provide an electricity system to give “security, sustainability and affordability.”
The price of electricity has reached its highest level since 1926 in real terms, and pursuing a policy of renewable sources only will certainly increase the prices beyond what is affordable.
I hope that the Scottish Government and opposition parties at Holyrood listen to energy experts and take appropriate action before it is too late.
C Scott
Edinburgh
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