And, speaking at a civic dinner in the Art Gallery last night, Lewis Macdonald, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning took the opportunity to highlight the economic importance of renewable energy, not just to Aberdeen but Scotland as a whole.

He said: 'If we are to realise the economic as well as the environmental benefits of renewable energy, we must ensure that we not only produce the energy from our national resources and fabricate the kit required to do so; but also that the research, the design, and the development of the technology are done here in Scotland too. And in providing the intellectual capital, and securing the added value, I have no doubt that Aberdeen has a particularly important role to play.

'If this City has built an expertise in ecology on firm foundations in farming and fishing, it has enormous opportunity to provide an industry lead in marine renewables on the back of 30 years' experience as the oil capital of Europe, whether in the access to infrastructure built up over the oil years, as at the Beatrice Field in the Moray Firth; in the innovative and enterprising service companies, already diversifying from offshore oil and gas to offshore renewables; or in the immense concentration of knowledge and creativity in the city's universities, putting Scotland right at the forefront in world terms.

'In all these respects Aberdeen is well placed to lead Scotland, just as Scotland is well placed to lead Europe in developing the energy industries of the future, and I think what you will see this week is just how seriously this opportunity is being recognised by a whole range of local partners in both the public and the private sectors.

'Nothing is more important at this critical stage in the development of renewables than being seen to welcome and support the renewable energy industry, and it is absolutely vital that Aberdeen, and the whole of Scotland, continue to send out the message: Green Energy; yes please.

'For Scotland's devolved government, renewable energy is one of the flagships for positioning Scotland at the forefront of sustainable development. We are consulting on a green jobs strategy, we recognise that the environmental standards being set in Europe today will become absolutely necessary for all of the world's economies in the course of this century; and that means there is a global economic opportunity for those countries and industries which are the first to take seriously the need for an economic strategy that is concerned with sustainability as well as economic growth.

'That is why the things you see in Aberdeen this week are of more then local or regional significance, and why I hope that what you learn this week will inform your parliamentary considerations both now and in the future.'

The joint visit from Westminster's Environmental Audit Committee and the Scottish Parliament's Environment and Rural Development Committee, yesterday and today (Wednesday 30 June), is the first time that subject committees from the two parliaments have met together outside Edinburgh or London.

The visit, organised by Aberdeen City Council, is the culmination of enthusiastic partnership working with Robert Gordon University; University of Aberdeen; Aberdeen College; Macaulay Institute; FRS Marine Laboratory; Aberdeenshire Council; First; Centre for Ecology & Hydrology; Banchory; Sigen Ltd; Aberdeen Forward; Castlehill Housing Association; Aberdeen City Environmental Forum; Aberdeen Countryside Project; Forestry Commission; Talisman Energy UK; AREG; Shell UK and Aberdeen & Grampian Tourist Board.