Why wind?
"What we do in the next 10 or 20 years can have a profound effect on the climate in the second half of this century and in the next." HM Treasury, The Stern Review, 2006
The UK has the best wind resource in the whole of Europe, with high wind speeds and good reliability. Wind power has been used in the UK for centuries for the grinding of grain and the pumping of water, but huge technological advances in the past 20 years now mean that it currently provides the best hope for meeting our renewable energy targets.
Wind power is one of the few renewable energy resources that is both technologically proven and suitable for widespread installation and large-scale electricity production. As a result it is also one of the cheapest forms of renewable electricity production.
Why onshore?
Offshore wind is a very exciting technology for the provision of renewable energy in the UK, yet is currently an expensive form of electricity production due to the increased cost of installation and maintenance with any offshore site. Financing and insurance problems currently exist although this is expected to be overcome with time.
In order to meet our renewable energy targets we will always need both onshore and offshore wind to contribute, with onshore wind currently providing our best hope of quickly reducing CO2 emissions, while offshore wind becomes a more trusted technology and production costs begin to reduce.
