North Sea energy used to mean oil and gas. Today, production of both is waning, and the rough weather that challenged the drillers has itself become a resource. In a speech last September, Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, estimated that the winds and waves lashing the Scottish coast could generate seven times more energy than Scotland consumes. Other countries around the North Sea hold similar potential. The problem is getting all that power from the windy edge of Europe to its populous, energy-hungry heart - the region roughly bounded by London, Berlin and Milan. "What we need above all is an efficient transmission system," Salmond says. "And the most efficient one would be a grid built across the North Sea."
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