A LEAKED SNP document has spoken of Scotland's need to move away from "damaging, price-volatile fossil fuels".

The paper, titled Scotland's Energy Future, emerged a day after Alex Salmond unveiled a major report stressing the value of North Sea oil to the economy.

The pro-UK Better Together campaign, which obtained the document, said it revealed ministers' private fears about relying too heavily on oil, despite claims of a second North Sea boom.

The 24-page draft report appears to have been prepared for publication later this month.

Promising more wind and wave power in an independent Scotland, it argues: "The transition to renewable energy reduces our dependence on damaging, price volatile fossil fuels, bringing greater stability in energy prices for consumers."

It also claims public support for windfarms in Scotland would allow them to expand while continuing to be subsidised by taxpayers in England.

"Higher levels of public acceptance of renewable energy developments in Scotland, including onshore wind, help other parts of the UK, where public acceptance is more polarised," it says.

The report also confirms SNP plans to remain in a single energy market with the UK but to create a separate regulator which would be able to tackle fuel poverty in an independent Scotland.

The report, drawn up by John Swinney's department, emerged four months after a leaked cabinet memo by the Finance Secretary raised similar concerns about fluctuating oil revenues and an independent Scotland's ability to afford pensions.

In a statement on behalf of Better Together, Labour's shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said: "This leaked paper yet again makes public the private concern of SNP ministers about the volatility and instability of oil prices.

"The tax we get from the North Sea is so volatile that the difference between the highest and lowest years is the equivalent of Scotland's NHS budget.

"By pooling our resources across the whole of the UK we can better manage the peaks and troughs of oil revenue."

The Conservatives' Scotland Office minister David Mundell said: "I welcome the latest recognition from the Scottish Government remaining in the UK is the best way to secure our future. Their paper argues for the regulation of a single UK-wide market, as we have.

"It also argues for the continued subsidy of renewables by consumers across the UK, which already happens and gives Scotland a share of funding which is higher than its population share. The fact is Scotland needs the wide consumer base of the UK to underpin its renewables ambitions."

But a spokesman for the First Minister said: "True to form, the No Campaign have missed the point entirely in their desperation to talk Scotland down.

"The Scottish Government, whilst welcoming the huge oil and gas reserves remaining in the North Sea – around 24 billion barrels with a wholesale value of £1.5 trillion – have consistently warned of the need to reduce our domestic energy dependence on fossil fuels and, within the powers available to us, accelerated the development of renewable energy to harness our abundant green power, strengthen our energy security and provide a more stable price structure."