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Commenting on the release of reports on renewable energy from Reform Scotland and the Adam Smith Institute today (12 December 2012), Stan Blackley, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:

“Our own research, commissioned from leading energy experts Garrad Hassan, shows that the Scottish Government’s target of generating 100% of Scotland’s electricity demand from renewable sources by 2020 is completely achievable. The same research also states that, if the Scottish Government delivers some immediate work on reducing energy demand and increasing energy efficiency, we could see 185% of Scotland’s electricity demand being produced by renewables by 2030, with plenty spare to export.

“Renewable energy not only has the potential to help us tackle environmental problems, but it can improve our energy security and significantly boost the Scottish economy through thousands of new long-term jobs and the export of both the electricity produced and the technologies developed. Renewable energy is an area in which Scotland can and should lead the world.

“Consumers’ fuel bills are rising because of volatile gas import prices and the high profits of the big six energy companies. Dirty energy comes at a cost! Prices will continue to rise in the future, whether we see renewables built or not. There will be some initial cost in developing and deploying renewables devices, however these will prove cheaper in the long-term than sticking with dirty, planet-wrecking and expensive sources of energy instead.

“Friends of the Earth Scotland agrees that Scotland’s ageing and increasingly unreliable nuclear power stations should be phased out, however we argue that this should happen sooner rather than later and that there should be no consideration of extending their lifespans as a transition technology. They are just too potentially dangerous and expensive and leave an unwelcome legacy of waste behind them.”

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact: Per Fischer, Press Office, Friends of the Earth Scotland
 t: 0131 243 2719

Notes to Editors

1. The Reform Scotland report ‘Powering Scotland’ can be found here:
reformscotland.com/index.php/publications/details/1260

2. The Adam Smith Institute report ‘Renewable Energy Vision or Mirage?’, can be found here: www.adamsmith.org/sites/default/files/research/files/renewableenergy2011.pdf

3. The Power of Scotland Secured, research by Garrad Hassan:
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/power-secured

4. Friends of the Earth Scotland is * Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation * An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland * Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups – covering every continent. www.foe-scotland.org.uk