The oil services tycoon, Scotland’s second-richest man, has invested in wind farms and carbon-capture technology. But he believes renewables alone will be unable to keep up with Scottish demand.
The SNP Government has said it will not allow any of the four new nuclear power stations proposed by the UK government to be sited north of the border, calling the energy source “dangerous, expensive, unreliable and unnecessary.”
Energy policy belongs to Westminster, but Alex Salmond has vowed to use planning rules to stop new stations being built here. Ministers say most of Scotland’s future energy needs can be met with wind and wave power, but Sir Ian, chairman of global oil services firm Wood Group, said such an energy policy was unsustainable.
He believes the country will only keep up with energy demands with a mix of renewable, hydrocarbon and nuclear sources.
“Scotland has the potential to be a world energy centre, but we have to have renewable energy alongside nuclear, which Scotland is in self-denial about,” he said.“A country like Scotland – and the UK – with the energy challenge we have ahead of us, needs to have some nuclear content.”
Sir Ian, a former RBS director, added Scotland faces a possible energy crisis in the next decade and pointed to increases in the cost of fuel.
“Relying solely on renewable energy is impossible,” he said.
“We couldn’t produce enough quickly enough, and hydrocarbons are inevitably going to reduce. Although renewables will generate a significant amount of energy, they will hardly keep pace with the increased demand.
“There is going to be a huge increase in the demand for energy in the coming years as countries like China and India begin to use more energy.
“Sadly, the cost of energy is going to have to increase to make it viable. Nuclear is expensive, that is true, but we don’t want to get to the point where a little old lady is going to be very cold or sitting in her flat in the dark because she actually can’t ever afford to put the heating or lighting on because energy is in such short supply.”
Scotland has some of the strictest carbon targets in the world, set by the SNP, with pledges to cut emissions by 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050.
The SNP defended its energy policy, insisting renewables would propel the economy after the recession.
Scottish Energy Minister Jim Mather said: “Investment in renewable energy is driving Scotland’s economic recovery, with projects up and down the country supporting highly skilled, low-carbon jobs.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article