A LEADING Unionist campaigner’s claims about Scotland’s abundant renewable potential have been dismissed as “absurd”.

At a panel discussion on Scottish independence, Sam Taylor, the head of pro-UK think tank These Islands, claimed the “best way to harness Scotland’s renewable resources [was] to look at it from a UK perspective”.

Asked if Scotland would be better placed to decarbonise its economy within or outwith the UK, Taylor said: “Scotland is blessed with enormous resources but it's not blessed with a great many people and people ultimately use electricity. 

READ MORE: Scottish renewable energy industry could triple in size by 2030, report reveals

"Scotland's got all the renewable resources but the rest of the UK is going to use that electricity. 

"The problem is better tackled at a UK-wide level. That's just self-evidently true."

On Thursday, he defended the comments he made in 2019, which resurfaced online recently.

But the remarks were described as “an absolutely absurd argument for a Union that has failed renewable energy” by Scottish Greens climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell.

READ MORE: MPs urged to support ‘Just Transition’ training scheme backed by Holyrood

SNP energy spokesperson Stephen Flynn said Unionists “now seem to believe that Scotland is unique in being a nation burdened by an abundance of renewable potential".

He added: “The reality is that Scotland has the potential to lead Europe in renewable energies, just as we have with oil and gas, and we can’t afford for Westminster to scupper our potential.”

Ruskell said: “The fact that Scotland has the potential to generate vastly more renewable energy than it needs is a central pillar of the Green case for independence.

“We could be exporting clean energy across Europe, but instead successive UK governments have failed to support that potential and instead focused subsidy on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. 

“People across the British Isles and beyond could benefit from cleaner energy while we take a leading role in tackling the climate emergency, but it’s clear that Scotland will need to lead that transition as a country with all the fiscal levers to do so.”

READ MORE: Why axing plans for public energy firm is deeply misconceived

In a paper he authored for These Islands last year, Taylor said in the event of Scotland leaving the UK, it would be forced to sell electricity generated by renewable means at the market price.

He wrote that Scotland would not receive subsidies from the UK Government to support developing its renewable sector – which he claimed would result in Scots’ energy bills rising by around 35% after a Yes vote.

Taylor said: "A GB-wide approach was the best way to decarbonise the economy.

"This is the same position that the SNP took in the White Paper published before the 2014 referendum."

Scotland generated more than 30,000 GWh of electricity from renewables in 2020 – more than any other source put together.