Below: Map showingoffshore energy projects;Robin Rigg offshore windfarm; the Pelamis WaveEnergy Converterprototype off OrkneyLast year in Scotland, that consensus saw all partiesacross the Parliament in Edinburgh, vote unanimouslyto pass a law committing us to world leading greenhousegas emission reduction targets - a 42 and 80 per centcut in emissions by 2020 and 2050 respectively.A large expansion of renewable power generation andthe advancement of carbon capture and storagetechnologies, together with much greater energyefficiency for fossil fuelled generation, is central toachieving these targets, supporting sustainableeconomic growth and advancing to a low-carbon future.We are clear on the need for a clean baseload usingtechnology to reduce carbon emissions, whilecontinuing to drive forward renewables. We have theknowledge and expertise in our universities andindustry and the infrastructure in the North Sea to takea global lead in clean coal and gas technology andbecome a hub for carbon capture and storage.Just as Scotland was blessed with North Sea oil andgas, nature has also provided us with an abundance ofpowerful elements, in particular water and wind whichare already powering hundreds of thousands of homesthroughout Scotland. Scotland's specific target for green electricitygeneration is to meet half our national demand fromrenewable sources by 2020. We are on track to meetour interim target of 31 per cent by 2011, but we knowthat there is much more to do to fully realise thepotential social, economic and environmental returns.Recognising that change starts at the grassroots. We are helping schools, community groups andbusinesses to utilise renewables, as well as energyefficiency, waste reduction and sustainable transport,through a climate challenge fund.We have also streamlined the planning process and aredetermining large renewable development applicationsmuch faster than previously. This includes an expansionof what is already Europe's largest onshore wind farm(just south of our largest city - Glasgow), which I waspleased to officially switch on in May last year.OFFSHORE WINDHowever, it is offshore where Scotland holds itsgreatest comparative advantage with huge naturalsources of clean, green energy that I consider us duty-bound to develop.Scottish waters are estimated to have up to a quarter ofEurope's offshore wind and tidal resource and a tenthof its potential wave power capacity.In the last 18 months plans for just over 11GW ofoffshore wind developments in Scottish waters havebeen announced -and these will help us meet our2020 renewable energy target.The potential of offshore wind is of equal scope and scale to North Sea oil and gas, bringing with it an estimated £30 billion worth of investment inScotland's economy over the next decade.Last year I opened the Scottish European GreenEnergy Centre (SEGEC), which is fostering researchcollaboration with the rest of the EU and helpingsecure significant funding for major projects ofstrategic importance to delivering Europe's greenenergy ambitions.MARINE ENERGYTogether with public and private sector partners, weare also investing in the nascent marine energyindustry, to help secure the commercial-scaledeployment of wave and tidal power generation overthe coming decade.076RENEWABLE ENERGY

Through our use of renewables obligation certificatesto incentivise commercial generation of green energy,we have positioned Scotland as one of the mostattractive long-term markets for private investment inwave and tidal power anywhere in the world.The European Marine Energy Centre, based in Orkney,also provides the world's first facility for thedevelopment, testing and accreditation of full-scale,grid-connected marine energy generation technologies.We have also awarded funding to help pioneeringdevelopers such as Pelamis, Aquamarine, Wavegenand OpenHydro to deploy and demonstrate theirinnovative wave and tidal electricity generatingdevices.Marine renewables took a major step forward in Marchwhen, following the world's first commercial wave andtidal power leasing round, developers and major powerutilities signed agreements to develop marine energyprojects capable of generating up to 1.2GW off theScotland's north coast by 2020.We are also seeking to push forward innovation inmarine power through the Saltire Prize - our £10million global challenge which has attracted interestfrom across the globe and is now open to entrants.FINANCINGWhile the recent leasing agreements for offshore wind,wave and tidal projects indicate the commitment ofmajor companies to the technologies, it is clear thatsignificant sums of private capital are needed to fullyrealise the potential of clean green energy.Scotsman Robert Fleming created one of the world'sfirst investment trusts and used it to channel thesavings of the rising British Victorian middle class intohigh risk, high return bonds, developing the railwaynetworks that spanned America.In the last century, new financial instruments andinnovative techniques were developed to exploit NorthSea oil and gas, often financed from the new resourcesfrom the OPEC countries after the 1973 oil shock.And in the 1980s the Bank of Scotland was among thefirst in converting sovereign debt to equity investmentto help South American nations emerge from theirdebt crisis.So we have faced the challenge of finding productiveuses for an influx of funds before and we can again. Wemust now create the right investment structures toproductively use the new wealth from emergingeconomies such as China.Over the past decade the surplus savings in thedeveloping economies were used by the developedeconomies to finance unsustainable asset inflation.Today we must harness that wealth to create tangibleinfrastructural development that will create real wealth,not virtual wealth, in the green economy. In Scotlandthis work is being taken forward by our recentlyestablished Scottish Low-Carbon Investment Project.In addition to our wonderful natural resources,Scotland has considerable human resources, with 40 years of world-class experience and globally-recognised expertise and skills in large-scale offshoreenergy generation in the harsh waters of the North Sea.While oil and gas will remain an important part of boththe Scottish and global economy for years to come, we are also working to transfer these skills andexperiences to the offshore renewables sector.SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITYAs world leaders gather for another G8 summit, thereis no more pressing issue than the need for the world'sdeveloped nations and emerging economies to moveswiftly towards a low-carbon future and help stem thetide of climate change that wreaks most havoc in thepoorest countries.Against that challenge, nature has providedhumankind with a further opportunity. One that offersthe chance to deploy Earth's resources sustainably -whether capturing the winds around us, channellingthe rise, fall and flow of the world's seas and oceans orharnessing the power of the sun.As national economies emerge from recession, and the demand for energy continues to rise in the face ofpeak oil and growing climate chaos, we face a perfectstorm for a renewables revolution. It is one whereScotland is determined to be in the vanguard, playingour part in a global effort to safeguard the planet forfuture generations. nBIOGRAPHYAlex Salmond has led the Scottish Government asFirst Minister since the 2007 Scottish Parliamentelections, when he was elected MSP for the Gordonconstituency in north-east Scotland. A formerassistant economist at the Department of Agriculture& Fisheries for Scotland, Mr Salmond was an oileconomist and bank economist with the Royal Bankof Scotland in the 1980s. He served as MP for Banff& Buchan from 1987 until standing down from theUK Parliament in 2010. He represented the sameconstituency as its MSP between 1999 and 2001.He was elected national convener (leader) of theScottish National Party for a second time in 2004,having previously held the post from 1990 to 2000.RENEWABLE ENERGY077SCOTLAND'SSPECIFIC TARGETFOR GREEN ELECTRICITY GENERATION IS TO MEET HALF OUR NATIONAL DEMAND FROM RENEWABLESOURCES BY2020. WE ARE ONTRACK TO MEETOUR INTERIM TARGET OF 31 PERCENT BY 2001 ""