Alex Salmond’s SNP will not meet ambitious renewable energy targets without the benefit of Westminster subsidies, a senior MP has argued.
The Scottish Government wants to generate 100% of the country’s electricity from renewables by 2020.
Former UK secretary for trade and industry Alistair Darling yesterday questioned whether that would be possible.
He said: “I just don’t see how it could be.
“The Scottish Government, along with everything else it has promised, has said it will subsidise it, but where will the money come from?
“Without the UK subsidy, there wouldn’t be a renewables industry. It just does not work.”
The Labour MP, a former chancellor, insisted he was a big supporter of renewable energy, but said it had limitations.
He added: “A lot of the offshore and wave energy is still in its infancy in terms of research. We’ve been talking about offshore energy for 20 years now, and we are still in the planning stage.”
Mr Darling is on a “listening tour” of Scotland in his capacity as chairman of the Better Together campaign.
Today, he will be arguing the case for the union in Inverness. As part of the visit, he will meet former armed forces members at the Royal British Legion Club in Huntly Street.
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