British Make Huge Wind Power Commitment

The UK is ripe for green energy given its geology. Now, the British are making a huge wind power commitment beginning with offshore wind farms opening in 2014.

Wind farms are the second cleanest green energy we have after solar energy. Where do wind farms work best? Where there is wind of course. Some countries have geology that is conducive to this natural event while others are less so. The United Kingdom is certainly a prime location given its massive shoreline. Where land meets water, there is almost always wind.


Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced a simply massive wind farm project for the country. The project is comprised of numerous farms off the roughly 7,500 miles of coastline for the country. The goal is to ultimately produce 40 percent of the energy requirements of the UK via the wind effort. Wind power currently produces less than two percent.

I’ll be the first to admit more than a few politicians have announced big plans with little follow up. One could suspect the same thing of Brown given the fact he is facing political pressure given the economy and may lose his position in the next election. This plan, however, is different. The news conference was held not only to announce the project, but to announce that licenses had been issued to numerous companies to get underway.



The first farms are expected to finish construction in 2014 with the last finishing in 2020. The farms will cost billions in both government and private finance. On the positive side, they are expected to also produce as many as 70,000 total jobs. Given high unemployment rates these days, that is not an aspect to underplay.

Overall, it is clear that Europe is far ahead of the United States when it comes to wind production. The US produces more energy this way, but a much smaller percentage of its overall usage. The question is why? The answer is because only states really promote wind power in the US. The federal government talks big, but does little.

Hey, they have banks to bailout!

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