Scotland’s Energy Plan Is Ambitious, but Is It Realistic?

As the COP17 conference concluded in South Africa with what has been called “modest” progress on stemming climate change, a bolder plan in Scotland to reduce emissions and move toward renewable energy faces criticism over costs and lack of planning.

A government audit released this month found that Scotland’s plan to reduce emissions by 42 percent within the next decade could cost as much as £11 billion ($17 billion), with no clear indication of where that money would come from.

The emissions target “is far more ambitious than U.K. and European Union goals, and the Scottish Government is dependent on action by others to achieve it,” the Audit Scotland release said, citing particular challenges in the

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