WIND POWER
The British government gave the go-ahead this week to the world’s largest-ever single investment in renewable energy. In a bid to meet the UK’s commitments for renewable energy, it is issuing licences for thousands of offshore wind turbines. The aim is to install 6 gigawatts of wind-powered generating capacity by 2010, equivalent to the output of six large nuclear power plants and enough to supply 1 in 6 British homes. At present, a mere 600 megawatts is being produced by wind farms, all on land. While wind power is currently more costly to install than other electricity generating systems, such as gas-fired turbines, the…
