Talking-up Scotland

www.hurricaneenergy.com

The newly discovered oil field west of Shetland, containing around 1 billion barrels, is just the latest in a long list of developments and discoveries which must have an impact on those for whom economic security will be the main factor in voting Yes next time around.

The Lancaster and Halifax oil fields contain a column of oil one kilometre deep! I hope their naming after English towns doesn’t hint at some kind of sense that they won’t be ours after independence. I liked the way the Sun described it as the biggest in the North Sea. Geography is clearly not their proof-reader’s strongest subject.

It’s worth looking back over the last year or so, though, to see that this is just one, a big one admittedly, of many announcements suggesting Scotland’s energy future is incredibly optimistic. See these:

1.     ‘The Biggest in the World!’ 270 tidal energy turbines to be installed to provide sustainable power to Scotland

 2.     ‘Wind farms powered 4 million Scottish homes last month’ and there are only 2.4 million ‘households’ in Scotland

 3.     The potential for Scottish Wind Power is even greater than we thought. Could a single wind turbine power a whole Scottish city?

 4.     Two new records for Scottish wind power ‘underline the massive progress Scotland is making in securing an ever increasing proportion of its electricity needs from wind power and other clean renewable sources’

5.     As Scotland’s renewable energy output surges, the SNP Government pushes on with a £10 million fund for local projects

6.     Scottish Energy Jobs Task Force prompts UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to project massive growth by 2035

 7.     Subsidy costs for Scottish off-shore wind and tidal energy farms likely to fall below those needed for new nuclear plants making the latter an even more stupid choice

 8.     A second ‘biggest in the world’ for Scotland’s renewable energy sector

9.     Happy New Year Story: Scotland’s ‘renewable energy expertise’ in demand worldwide, says new research.

 10.  New Technology to recover 500 million barrels of heavy oil from North Sea fields

 11.  The Scottish Third Wave of Oil Productivity is built on solid foundations but those of the Shale Oil Industry are built on sand and on sand that is disappearing fast

Add to all this, we even had BBC Scotland telling us in 2016: ‘New Shetland gas fields ‘could supply whole of Scotland’ at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-35568837

I don’t see how this could be much more positive. Wavering No voters need to see this: share, share, share.