| Fossil
fuels have been part of the human story from very early in our history,
but their popular and abundant use is only a recent affair.
Coal fired the
industrial revolution early in the 19th century; and thence came
the age of oil. It took 2000 years to use the first trillion barrels
of oil. We will use the next trillion in just thirty years from
now, and push exploration far into the uncharted deep sea.
Now is a time
of profligate consumption, criminal wastage and global warming.
A cleaner, sustainable alternative to fossil fuels is to harness
the phenomenal, untamed energy of the oceans – waves, tides,
wind, currents – and then to store unwanted carbon dioxide
far beneath the seafloor.
Scotland
has played a major role in this energy story from the beginning.
|