The energy debate: Wind

Can we harness enough of its strength to solve Britain’s power crisis?

Britain is running out of power. North Sea gas supplies are dwindling and our nuclear reactors getting old. Replacing them will take a long time, but energy shortages won’t wait. Wind farms can be built far more quickly – although they have also generated passionate opposition, particularly when built on previously unspoilt land in Wales and Scotland. The campaign group Country Guardian has described them as “monstrous, alien industrial structures”.

Feelings are strong on both sides, but the independent Sustainable Development Commission produced a report on the pros and cons of wind power last year. It found “no major technical barriers” to windmills providing all the power the energy review is now demanding – but warned that this would cost considerably more than electricity from a coal-fired power station.
One estimate is a cost to the average consumer of