Wind farms Hailed As Lead In UK Renewables Effort

The UK wind industry is being hailed as the big winner following the European Commission’s announcement yesterday of its climate change action plan.
The UK must generate 15 per cent of its energy under the proposals from renewable sources by 2020. However, green technologies for generating heat and transport fuel are years away from mass adoption.  Renewable electricity generation will have to meet the bulk of the target.
Renewables currently account for around five per cent of the UK’s electricity mix.  However, experts predict this will have to climb to between 30 and 40 per cent if the UK is to meet its 15 per cent target for overall energy.
As the most cost effective renewable energy technology currently available, wind turbines stand to account for the vast majority of this 40 per cent target.
A spokesperson for the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) estimated that over 12,000 turbines would be required to meet the target.  This number includes 8,000 offshore. However, he warned that these estimates were likely to change depending on new turbines performance.
He also thought that suggestions that the dominance of the wind energy sector could hamper development of other alternative energy projects were overstated, pointing to current government proposals for a Severn Barrage and adding that it is “not a case of us and them”.

www.bwea.com