01.09.09
THE OPENING of Windy City, England's largest offshore windpark, was
delayed by an oversupply of the park's essential raw material
wind. Gales in the North Sea meant that the boat carrying the energy
minister could not leave Lowestoft.
The UK has more than 6,500 operational wind turbines, of which more than
half are sited offshore. In conjunction with other renewable energy
initiatives, they should enable Britain to meet its official "green"
electricity target for 2010 of 10% of the national total.
"What's so great about renewable energy like this," said the energy
minister, Jonathan Bastable, "is that even a tiny turbine powering a
single lightbulb makes a valid contribution." Proponents of wind-power
believe they could do even better. "If they gave us our head," said
Oliver Ironside of WindGen, "by wind alone we could generate three times
the UK's entire national power output."
Wind does however face powerful competition. The wave-power programme,
though hindered by opposition from nature conservation groups, will
continue to grow. So will photovoltaics (solar-powered electricity
generators fitted to buildings) and the use of "biomass" such as
coppiced willow or elephant grass to replace traditional fuels in
conventional power stations.
More than 200,000 hectares of farmland are growing "short-rotation
coppice" to be converted into gas or oil to fuel power generation
plants, which already produce about 1.8% of the national total.
"Power gets no greener," said Bastable. RG
