On the same day that President Obama rejected the keystone pipeline, BP issued a report sees an oil-dominated future, especially in China and India, for decades to come. It is a nightmare scenario, because human beings cannot go on spewing greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for that long without producing extreme catastrophes down the line.
In contrast, Scotland has announced an ambitious plan to get 100% of its energy from renewables by 2020! A reminder: that is only 8 years away.
How will Scotland do this? With offshore wind turbines. It has 6 gigawatts of wind energy online or near to being online. It will aim for 17 gigawatts as an interim goal, about a third of its energy needs, with an investment of $71 billion. Scotland is also exploring wave power, with plans for 2 gigawatts from that source. The United Arab Emirates’ Masdar renewables company is helping.
Scotland is looking to reduce the cost of offshore wind generation and distribution by 20%, which would make it competitive with hydrocarbons. (Actually it is already competitive because no one takes the dire effects of global warming into account in the price of oil and gas. What would you estimate Miami is worth?)
Scotland is even outdoing China, which is constructing 5 gigawatts worth of offshore projects by 2015.
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