Scotland should be Europe's energy saving green powerhouse but is being held back by prohibitive National Grid charges, an MEP has said.

Alyn Smith, an MEP for the Scottish National Party (SNP), branded as "bizarre" the pricing structure put in place by industry regulator Ofgem which sees electricity generators pay more to connect to the National Grid the further away they are from south-east England.

He added that the cost of accessing the grid is one of the biggest obstacles preventing progress in "kicking on Scotland's green energy revolution", which would lead to a reduction in carbon emissions.

As the National Gird transmission charge is not an issue devolved to the Scottish Parliament, Mr Smith has appealed to the European Commission to intervene in the matter.

British Eco Energy, a company offering renewable energy advice to homeowners, recently announced that in light of strict government energy saving targets, awareness of renewable energy resources needs "to be increased significantly".