Renewables will need back-up to provide access to cheap energy - 16/02/2009
The Scottish secretary has said that renewable energy will need back-up if cheap energy is to be made available to Scottish consumers in the long-term, reports the Scotsman.
Jim Murphy said that while renewable energy could be an integral element of Scotland's cheap energy future, it would not be capable of satisfying all of the country's energy needs.
He said that investment in nuclear power would be necessary to work alongside renewable technology such as solar energy and wind turbines to safeguard the country's cheap energy future and to help reduce carbon emissions.
Mr Murphy told the paper: "In the long-term, I would like to see Scotland as an enormous world centre of renewables but also with nuclear as part of carbon-free electricity production here in Scotland and across the UK."
He added that Scotland should collaborate, rather than compete with, the rest of the UK in developing new nuclear infrastructure.
French-owned energy supplier EDF will lead nuclear redevelopment in the UK with the construction of a number of new reactors.
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