Given that the oil production in the UK is falling faster than anticipated it appears the government may be taking accelerated steps to find alternatives.  Recently there was the announcement of the wind farm off the Thames, and now there is the tidal power off Scotland.

Scotland aims to generate 10 percent of its electricity from tidal and wave power which would be equivalent to replacing a huge fossil fueled power station, the Scottish government said this week.

Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen said he was making changes to renewable energy support regulations to kick start millions of pounds of investment in marine energy.

"Tens of millions of pounds of support will be available -- with the potential for hundreds of millions to be invested in new wave and tidal projects around Scotland's shores," Stephen said in a statement. . . . . .The Executive has a target of generating 18 percent of Scotland's power from green sources by 2010, higher than the UK national goal of 10 percent.