Renewable energy

Maf Smith is right to supporting Scotland’s hydro power as an engineering achievement of which we should be proud (Letters, 31 March). It does indeed provide 10 per cent of our power and, more importantly, is extremely flexible, being able to be turned on in seconds so that its importance is even greater than that figure suggests.

However, he says: "Hydro is by far and away the biggest renewables contributor to Scotland and the United Kingdom. It already provides more than 10 per cent of Scotland’s energy needs". Nuclear power provides about 44 per cent of our power, and since our nuclear industry can be maintained for at least as long as that of the development of living organisms on this planet, it must, by any reasonable defi-nition, be classed as renewable.

NEIL CRAIG

Woodlands Drive

Glasgow

With regard to Maf Smith’s letter, in case your readers have become confused about hydro matters, they should note that I live in Galloway, the home of the original hydro scheme, and I have spent over 40 years of my life there or in the northern Highlands. I fully appreciate the benefits of hydro-electric power, but this does not blind me to its limitations.

I have driven past Clatteringshaws hundreds of times, and walked round it on many occasions. I have seen the water roaring over the dam, but I have also seen the dykes exposed when there was barely a trickle. Hydro power is very good for coping with a sudden increase in demand, but for steady production it has a limited viability.

ROBERT PATE

Old Edinburgh Road

Minnigaff, Wigtownshire