ABERDEEN, Scotland, June 3 (UPI) -- Scotland needs to embrace more wave and tidal energy projects to cut dependence on imported forms of fossil fuels, Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said.
Ewing addressed an energy conference in Aberdeen, saying a $27.3 million renewable energy fund would be dedicated to marine energy projects.
"Scotland needs both wave and tidal stream technologies to help decarbonize our electricity system, increase energy security, and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels," he said.
Ewing last week said the amount of renewable energy generated in 2012 reached a record of more than 14,600 gigawatt hours, almost a 7 percent increase from the previous year.
The Scottish government has one of the most ambitious sets of renewable energy goals in the world. It set a goal of generating all of its domestic electricity needs from renewable resources by 2020.
A mid-May report from the British and Scottish governments said renewable energy development on the Scottish Islands would go a long way to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom by 80 percent by 2050.
Ewing said the funding measure would put Scotland at the forefront of marine energy development.
