Wind energy
THE USE OF WIND AS A RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE INVOLVES HARNESSING THE POWER CONTAINED IN MOVING AIR. WIND REPRESENTS A VAST SOURCE OF ENERGY WHICH MAN HAS HARNESSED FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. THE UK IS SAID TO HAVE THE LARGEST POTENTIAL WIND ENERGY RESOURCE IN EUROPE. WIND IS REGARDED AS ONE OF OUR MOST PROMISING RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES IN THE UK AND ALREADY PROVIDES ELECTRICITY FOR OVER 390,000 HOUSE HOLDS OR 940,000 PEOPLE, PREVENTING THE ANNUAL EMISSION OF OVER 1.46 MILLION TONNES OF CARBON DIOXIDE.
WIND IS CURRENTLY THE NEXT BIGGEST CONTRIBUTOR OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE UK AFTER BIOMASS AND HYDROELECTRICITY. ALMOST 205 OF THE OVERALL CONTRIBUTION OF 3.86% FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES IN THE UK COMES FROM WIND ENERGY. THERE ARE CURRENTLY (MARCH 2004) 1,043 wIND TURBINES IN OPERATION AT 84 SITES AROUND THE UK, PROVIDING 649.4 MW OR OVER 0.3-0.4% OF THE UK'S ELECTRICITY SUPPLY. THERE ARE ALSO TWO OFFSHORE WIND FARMS AT BLYTH OFFSHORE (4MW) AND NORTH HOYLE (60MW). ANOTHER, SCROBY SANDS (60MW) IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. IN 2003, SEVEN NEW WIND FARMS WERE DEVELOPED, BRINGING 100MW INTO THE GRID. IN 2004, 22 NEW WIND FARM PROJECTS ARE DUE TO BE BUILT, REPRESENTING AN ADDITIONAL 474 MW OF CAPACITY. THIS WILL EXPAND THE CURRENT CAPACITY BY OVER 70% IN JUST ONE YEAR, AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL OF GROWTH.
LIKELY CONTRIBUTION TO THE RENEWABLE TARGET.
TOTAL INSTALLED WIND CAPACITY BY THE END OF 2005 IS PREDICTED 1689.7MW, WHICH WILL MEET 1.3% OF SUPPLY, BASED ON THE TOTAL CONSUMPTION OF 343.8 TWH (UK ENERGY IN BRIEF, JULY 2003), OR THE NEEDS OF JUST UNDER ONE MILLION UK HOUSEHOLDS. AT THE END OF 2003, DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE POTENTIAL OF 1,172 MW HAD BEEN APPROVED ONSHORE AND 1,183 MW OFF SHORE WITH A FURTHER 1,605 MW IN THE PLANNING SYSTEM. A FURTHER 7,500 MW (7.5 GW) IS BEING PREPARED FOR SUBMISSION, MAKING A CUMULATIVE TOTAL OF 11,460 MW. THIS COULD ENABLE WIND TO EXCEED THE INSTALLED CAPACITY OF NUCLEAR BY 2006.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
ONSHORE WIND ENERGY IS A RELATIVELY MATURE RENEWABLE ENERGY INDUSTRY AND HAS BECOME ESTABLISHED AS A VIABLE OPTION FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY CONTRIBUTION. THE BIGGEST ISSUES FACING ITS FUTURE DEVELOPMENT ARE OBTAINING PLANNING CONSENT, OBJECTIONS FORM THE MOD AND CONCERNS FOR CIVIL AIRPORTS. OFF SHORE WIND ALSO HAS A HUGE POTENTIAL, ALTHOUGH THE TECHNOLOGY REQUIRES FURTHER DEVELOPMENT TO WITHSTAND THE MOST SEVERE OFFSHORE CONDITIONS.
LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT
WIND TURBINES UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE SUCH IMPACTS ALTHOUGH OPINION IS USUALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE. DEVELOPERS ARE OBLIGED TO AVOID THE MOST SENSITIVE LANDSCAPES SUCH AS NATIONAL PARKS AND AREAS OF NATURAL BEAUTY AND ROUTINELY UNDERTAKE SIGNIFICANT ASSESSMENTS OF LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT WHEN PREPARING PLANNING APPLICATIONS WHICH ALLOW THE FULL AND INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THEIR POTENTIAL EFFECTS. A NUMBER OF SURVEYS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT PUBLIC CONCERNS REGARDING THE LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACTS OF WIND TURBINES ARE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED FOLLOWING THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SCHEMES IN QUESTION, AND THEY HAVE NO IMPACT ON TOURISM OT THE GENERAL PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION OF AREAS WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED.