Britain's wind farm energy passes new milestone » Environment » 24dash.com

Britain took a step further towards a green future today when wind energy passed a crucial milestone.

The commissioning of a turbine on a wind farm near Stirling will give the UK enough wind power to provide energy to 1.1 million homes.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling is switching on the turbine at the Braes O'Doune windfarm today.

The British Wind Energy Association said the event will put the UK in the record books as a top wind energy producer.

A spokeswoman said: "Once it gets turned on, the electricity it exports into the grid will bump up the amount of wind power that has been installed to two gigawatts.

"The UK is one of only seven countries to achieve this.

"It took us 14 years to reach the first one and only 20 months to reach the second. This is an industry that is delivering rapidly."

Today's move follows the approval yesterday of proposals for a huge wind farm on the Isle of Lewis.

The Western Isles Council's environmental services committee gave its backing to the ?500 million project to build 181 turbines on the island.

But there has been strong opposition from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and residents who believe wildlife and the environment would be adversely affected.

Speaking before the Stirling ceremony, Mr Darling urged the importance of green energy.

"There is this paradox. Most people say yes, I'm in favour of greener sources of energy - but then people say not here," he told BBC Radio Scotland.

"There's always been a problem, let's recognise it, but let's also recognise at the end of the day that we need to generate more renewable energy, and having generated it, we have to transmit that electricity down to where it's used."

He denied there had been an over-emphasis on wind power at the expense of other forms of renewable energy such as offshore wind power and wave power.

And Mr Darling denied charges of Government foot-dragging on a revolutionary "carbon capture" scheme proposed for Peterhead, north east Scotland.

Under the scheme, hydrogen made from North Sea gas would fuel a power station and carbon dioxide would be pumped back under the North Sea to help extract more oil.

Mr Darling said: "We have already put in steps to try and bring this technology forward.

"It would be a mistake, as the Conservatives suggested, to switch the renewables obligation on to carbon capture, as basically there would be no more wind, solar or wave power."

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne said: "The doubling of our electricity generation from wind in a little more than a year shows what renewables can do and gives the lie to the need for a new generation of nuclear power.

"However, the incentives for wind need to be maintained while the Government is still far short of doing what is necessary to encourage tidal and wave power.

"On a windy island surrounded by waves and tides, we should never be short of environmentally-friendly energy sources."

Copyright Press Association 2007