System Operator

Britain needs to tap into more wind energy to power its future

 Although it is always wise to take promises made during an election campaign with a grain of salt, a statement about wind power that was made last week just after Britain’s Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form a coalition government was encouraging to the rapidly developing emissions-free sector.

Chris Huhne, the UK’s new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said in an interview that it was scandalous that Britain has not done more to develop wind power and other renewables.

“We literally have an abundance of potential renewable energy and yet we have one of the worst records of any country in the European Union for generating electricity from renewables,” Huhne was reported as saying. “We have got to get renewables way up, we’ve got to make sure we’re much more energy efficient.”

A Liberal Democrat who likes wind turbines, Huhne described Britain as “sitting on the part of Europe that has the most potential for wind power.”

The new coalition government has agreed to increase the amount of energy the nation derives from wind power and other renewables. They also agreed to “fulfill our joint ambitions for a low carbon and eco-friendly economy.”

It’s also worth noting that during the recent election campaign, the Liberal Democrats called for up to 15,000 more wind turbines to be built.

All of this is welcomed by the wind farm sector, which is increasingly being used by European politicians, economists and environmentalists to help usher in a new green economy that rejects the continued use of harmful and expensive fossil fuels.

By Chris Rose, blog.ewea.org/