Scots – pumped up with energy

In more recent history, the emphasis of improving energy technology has moved from force of arms to commerce. Since the Scottish luminary James Watt's refinements to steam technology first initiated the industrial revolution, our growing capacity to bend nature's power to our will has been increasingly directed towards the production of goods and the creation of wealth. Scottish innovators and entrepreneurs have been and remain amongst the greatest exponents of this, always seeking new opportunities to apply the latest thinking to the challenges of what is now a global market.

Underlying the success of all modern industries, from the steam age onward, has been the technology of the pump. The controlled expansion of hot gasses through pumps which convert their heat to mechanical or electrical energy, remains the bedrock of industrial society. As well as their role in the supply of energy, pumps are crucial to its application: with a source of energy, pumps move fluids against gravity or against the force of higher pressure. We pump fuel into our cars, gas and water into our homes, and oil from under our seas. The machines we depend upon so much for our way of life must, of course, be designed and built to be reliable, and it is an industry in which Scottish enterprise has traditionally excelled.

Weir Pumps (now Clyde Pumps Incorporating Weir Pumps Glasgow), has been operating in Glasgow since 1871, when brothers George and James Weir opened their new engineering works for business. They developed a worldwide reputation for technological innovation and for the dependability of their products. There are pumps bearing the Weir name that are fifty years old and still serving their original purpose. Building on the success of the pumps and valves for which they became known, the Weir firm proved both enterprising and original in other fields, including aviation.

A precursor of the modern helicopter was the Autogyro, invented in 1921 by Juan de la Cierva. Cierva's new aircraft was the first to use a rotating wing to generate lift, though it retained the forward-facing propeller of an aeroplane. Cierva found the business partner he had been looking for to put his design into production in Weir Ltd, who financed the enterprise. The last surviving example of one of Weir's Autogyros, a 1934 W-2, can be seen at the Connect Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

This historic Scottish engineering firm has now been taken over in a £45 million deal by Jim McColl, OBE, chairman and chief executive of Clyde Blowers and one of Scotland's most successful entrepreneurs. Speaking on the purchase of the plant, where he himself was once apprenticed, McColl said, "Over two centuries, the business has demonstrated that it has an outstanding track record of designing innovative pumping solutions for customers across a wide range of industries. We believe that this heritage, complemented by a highly-skilled workforce, will provide us with a strong platform to significantly grow both market share and profitability."

Weir received a further boost in June this year when they confirmed an order worth £20 million for pumps to be used in the new nuclear power plants China is constructing to feed its rapidly-expanding energy market.

Glasgow-based company, Aggreko, has also been helping to supply China's growing demand for energy. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will benefit from temporary electric power provided by Aggreko's expertise. The company will be meeting one of the largest contracts for temporary power at a sporting event ever agreed . It will draw on experience gained providing power for the US Superbowl to keep the lights on at 40 different venues in 6 cities over the course of the event. As well as lighting and cameras at the stadiums, the international broadcast centre that will relay pictures of the world's greatest sporting celebration to all the countries of the Earth will be powered by energy supplied by Aggreko.

Since acquiring GE Energy Rentals – power suppliers to the 2004 Athens games – Aggreko have become the natural choice for temporary power at events on this scale. Aggreko recently won the contract to power the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and was providing power to the broadcast facilities in all the stadiums of the Euro 2008 football tournament.

We live in a time of uncertainty for the energy market. The threat of climate change and dwindling stocks is leading to increasing investment in clean and renewable fuels, but for the time being, oil remains the lifeblood of the world's energy economy. The Scottish energy sector straddles both worlds: while we are a world leader in renewables, Scottish technical know-how is at a premium in the oil trade. One company that has exploited this demand to expand from Scotland is Cairn Energy. Cairn specialise in the techniques of exploration and development behind the discovery of new and untapped oil resources. Since floating on the London Stock Exchange the company has expanded into the South Asian market with significant interests in India and Bangladesh. Cairn India, 65% owned by its Scottish parent company, trades on the Bombay and Indian National Stock Exchanges and was recently awarded the oil and gas exploration rights for 3,400 square kilometres of unexplored seabed between India and Sri Lanka.

As demand for oil continues to rise, and existing stocks decline, oil reserves that were previously uneconomical have become a more tempting prospect, and the exploration of new oilfields is coming into its own. Just as Cairn has been expanding exploration into Indian waters, the Aberdeen-based Wood Group have been helping push into the frozen Arctic. Wood subsidiary, IVM Projects, has recently completed a 12-month survey for the US Minerals Management Service into Arctic offshore drilling.

Whatever the future holds for the energy industry, we will need new generations of enterprising Scots if we are to maintain our lead, and at the University of Dundee, new opportunities are being provided for young people to learn all about Scottish business acumen. The Enterprise Gym gives students a chance to hone their entrepreneurial skills, and has been so successful since its launch three years ago that it has been given a fine new home at Caird House. University Principal, Sir Alan Langlands, said of the "E-Gym", "Students of all backgrounds and nationalities are finding the Enterprise Gym an excellent way of learning first hand about entrepreneurship and some of the harder business skills; practising `soft' personal skills and building their social and professional networks." Already more than 1,000 students have taken part in the E-Gym, and the new facilities will allow for many more.

Scotland's living tradition of technical and commercial ingenuity is what has earned her such a prominent place in the current energy landscape, and although the future is clouded and unclear we can know that the same tradition will distinguish our nation in the world we have to build.