Winds of change - Britain is turning to turbines
With a growing renewable energy market and environmental concerns, Britain is increasing its wind power capacity, writes Roland Gribben
On sea and land they are sprouting like one legged monsters with propellers. The "windmill", the vehicle for wind power, is becoming a more familiar sight as the government programme for encouraging faster development of renewable energy gathers momentum.
They will become even more familiar, commonplace and controversial over the next decade. Wind power is set to make a bigger contribution to the supply of energy. The offshore wind programme alone could be delivering 9 per cent of electricity demand by 2020 on the basis of current plans.
Overall the market for tidal and wave energy could be worth £4.2bn a year to the economy by 2050, according to estimates made by the Carbon Trust.
Major projects are being approved at a rapid rate, particularly offshore where opposition is limited and largely related to environmental concerns. Fish cannot vote. Onshore householders can and many are making their voices heard and count in arguments about the location of wind farms and their economic as well as environmental contribution.
The impact on house prices has figured prominently in the local as well as national debate about the merits of, and need for, wind power. The Nimby - not in my backyard - factor has been reflected in some of the debates but the wider economic issues have involved measuring the contribution in energy terms from a new nuclear power programme and small accumulations of wind farms.
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