The windiest country in Europe

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The UK may be the windiest country in Europe, but it sits only eighth in the wind power league and generates less than 10 percent of the wind energy produced by world leader, Germany.

This is because the politics of energy is a much larger issue in Germany, according to environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE).

"Pictures of nuclear waste being transported around the country have moved public opinion to the extent that renewable energy has been much higher up the political agenda than in the UK," FoE's Mark Johnstone told CNN.

However, energy politics is now becoming more high profile in the UK as the debate about global warming takes centre stage," Johnstone said.

Weather conditions such as the floods across Europe in recent months together with the ongoing rises in the price of oil have prompted more interest in alternative energy sources.

"It's a shame it has taken rising fuel prices and poor weather conditions to make us take this matter more seriously," said Alison Hill of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA).

The government recently committed the UK to sourcing 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2010 in its Renewable Obligation. Wind power is expected to provide half of that 10 percent, according to the BWEA.

A sight for sore eyes

The problem with modern turbines is that they are not nearly as picturesque as old-fashioned windmills, and not everyone wants a wind farm next door.

Anti-wind energy campaigners argue that the environmental costs hugely outweigh the benefits.

Groups such as Country Guardian, which helps local campaigners fight proposed wind farms, cite issues such as noise, spoiling the landscape and the dangerous nature of the turbines.

"Those living close to wind farms find the noise levels completely unacceptable and are enraged that assurances about noise given in advance turn out to be worthless," the organisation says.

However, the British Wind Energy Association says this is misinformation as modern wind turbines are not noisy at all, nor are they dangerous.

"Outside the nearest houses to a wind farm, the sound is likely to be no louder than that from a flowing stream about 50-100 metres away or from leaves rustling in a gentle breeze," it says on its Web site.

As far as being visually polluting, the BWEA says this is a totally subjective issue and that just as many people find them elegant and pleasing to the eye as find them ugly.

However, it agrees with organisations such as Friends of the Earth, which says wind farms should not be built within National Parks or other areas of outstanding natural beauty.

"Wind schemes...are unavoidably conspicuous, and therefore it is essential that projects are carefully sited and sensitively developed," says the BWEA.

"Opinion surveys from all over Europe show that most people support wind energy and would like to see more … However, any person's attitude towards, and understanding of clean, sustainable energy is likely to influence their opinion," it adds.

Moving offshore

Being the windiest country in Europe, the UK has a huge potential for generating green power, offshore as well as onshore.

Offshore sites have the added advantage of being sited further from any habitation and should therefore be less likely to cause offence.

The UK has 33 percent of the total European potential offshore wind resource -- enough to power the country three times over.

The first offshore wind farm is up and running at Blyth, off the north east coast of England. It was officially opened in December 2000.

The consortium involved includes civil engineering group AMEC as well as the energy firms Powergen and Shell.

"These high-profile companies have a wealth of equipment, people and skills used in offshore engineering in the oil and gas sector. They are now using those skills to develop the offshore wind energy sector. This should bode well for the future of wind power in the UK," Friends of the Earth's Mark Johnstone said.

Prospective developers are currently discussing building more sites around the UK coastlines with the Crown Estate, the body that officially owns almost all the country's coastline out to 12 nautical miles.

Country Guardian
British Wind Energy Association
Friends of the Earth

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