Although wind energy is a potentially useful renewable energy resource, insufficient emphasis is placed upon optimising its efficiency in operation under UK renewable energy policy and planning guidance. Exaggerated claims are made about its efficiency in terms of actual and likely capacity factors achieved. Noise and health impacts are understated in industry, and some government, literature. Impacts on residential property prices have still not been adequately assessed. The industry claims that the planning system in the UK presents more obstacles than in, for example, Denmark, Germany or Spain, are ill-founded. …

Residents were left fearing for their safety after shards of melting ice fell on homes and gardens from the blades of a giant wind turbine.

For about four hours people in King’s Dyke, Whittlesey, had to take cover as huge lumps – some two feet long – showered them from the 80 metre high tower on Saturday morning.

“My Lords, is it not extraordinary that we should at this stage be introducing a unilateral, unconditional requirement on this country to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when no other country is committing to do the same, to the degree of 80 per cent, even though we account only for the insignificant amount of 1.5 to 1.7 per cent of total emissions? In pursuit of this absurd and masochistic policy for this country, has the Minister’s department made an estimate, as it should have done, of how big an increase in …

The UK is seeing a growth in the development of wind power generation as the Government seeks to meet EU renewable energy targets. Wind energy developments can often have a significant impact on the appearance of the landscape. For this and other reasons they are often highly controversial in the local areas where they are proposed. This briefing sets out the findings of CPRE’s investigation of a growing number of cases where developers of new wind farms are offering various forms of payments and benefits directly to local communities, as …

About a fifth of the electricity produced annually in Denmark is generated by wind. Of this, just over a half can be used directly within national borders over the year. The rest must be exported (often at much reduced prices) to preserve the integrity of domestic grids.
The need to backup the variable supply of wind power with electricity from combined heat and power plants for internal use, and the necessity to export large surpluses of wind power, mean that domestic savings in carbon emissions are relatively small at the present time.
Investigations …