Although English, I worked in Scotland on many power projects in the 80's and 90's. I have witnessed practical, Scottish engineering skills in many forms. From some Scottish government plans it is clear that these skills are disregarded by politicians north of the border just like at Westminster. Consequently the plans for renewables to displace a very high proportion of fossil fuels are frightening and may condemn Scotland to a new Dark Age.
A cursory glance at any utility bill will show that a kWh of electrical power is about four times the price of kWh of gas. As renewables are often over twice the price of other forms of electricity generation, Scottish government plans could see power bills increase by a factor of 10 by 2020. Unfortunately, the high cost of Renewables is not compensated by any practical advantages. Gas, oil and coal can all be stored in large quantities to cope with peaks in demand. Large-scale electricity storage has been a pipe dream for a 100 years.
