Why Do We Need Wind Energy?

Our energy needs are changing, and so is the way we are meeting them. The UK has a legally binding commitment to continue dramatically reducing its greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades; and energy production is the biggest current source of these emissions. Not only does burning fossil fuels emit greenhouse gases, but fossil fuel reserves are a finite resource and increasingly need to be imported from overseas.

 

The wind, in contrast, is freely available and endlessly renewable; and the UK has more wind than any country in mainland Europe. As onshore wind technologies have matured, onshore wind has also become the lowest cost form of new large-scale electricity generation in the UK - cheaper than gas and almost half the price per kWh of new nuclear power stations.

 

Whilst energy efficiency is increasing, changes such as the growth in use of electric cars and the increasing use of electricity as a source of heat are also likely to increase the need for electricity into the future.

 

Generating electricity from the wind now provides, and will continue to provide in the future, a secure, affordable, renewable and low carbon way of meeting the UK’s energy needs.

 

 

How Does A Wind Turbine Work?

 

Click here to find out and also see how the technology has developed over the years.