Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
returned a Conservative MP, while the Labour Party (which was defeated in Westminster)
increased its share of the Scottish vote.
The SNP has pledged to hold a referendum in the autumn of 2014 on whether Scotland
should have full independence. Current opinion polls suggest that at least two-thirds of
Scots are happy with the status quo, but with the state of the UK economy, who knows
what might happen a few years down the line.
Renewable Energy
One of the central planks of the SNP's vision for an independent Scotland is its energy
policy. The party leader, Alex Salmond, has said that he wants the country to be the 'Saudi
Arabia of renewable energy' - becoming self-sufficient in energy by 2020, and a net ex-
porter of 'clean' electricity.
In the first half of the 20th century the Scot-
tish Highlands were one the first regions in the
world to develop hydroelectric power on a
large scale, and in the last decade, wind tur-
bines have sprung up all over the place. By
2009, renewables provided 27% of Scotland's
energy consumption, a figure that rose to 35%
in 2011; the government's target is to reach
Along with Wales and England, Scotland is part of
Great Britain. Throw in Northern Ireland and you
have the United Kingdom. It's OK to talk about
Scotland's inhabitants as Scottish or British - but
never
English!
100% by 2020.
However, the future of Scotland's energy industry lies not on land, but in the sea: Scot-
land has access to 25% of Europe's available tidal energy, and 10% of its wave power.
The country is at the leading edge of developing wave, tidal and offshore wind power, and
in 2012 the waters around Orkney and the Pentland Firth were designated as a Marine En-
ergy Park.
Development vs Conservation
In 2010 the Scottish government gave the go-ahead to a 135-mile, high-voltage overhead
power line from Beauly (near Inverness) to Denny in Stirlingshire, to connect wind- and
marine-generated electricity from the north to the heart of the national grid. It will be car-
ried on 600 giant pylons marching through some of the Highlands' most scenic areas, in-
cluding Strathglass, Fort Augustus and Bridge of Tummel.
Supporters point out that the scheme also involves the removal of almost 60 miles of
low-voltage pylons from the Cairngorms National Park; opponents claim that a seabed
