On Sunday John Hutton, the business secretary, announced that the UK government was planning a major expansion of offshore wind electricity generation. The irony that on that day the UK is being battered by high wind was not lost on me. I was also pleased to see that it was not the environment minister that was making the announcement. I was going to write about it on the day, but as I started looking at the details I realised that it looked less a definite plan than an aspiration.
First, to have this policy announced by someone other than the environment minister shows that the UK government is starting to take the issues of climate change seriously and that environmental considerations are permeating all aspects of government policy. There are other aspects of policy that are far from environmental, but this does sound as if in part at least the UK government appears to be taking the issues of climate change seriously. I say appears as while this policy and plan has been announced, the government expects private investment to create this massive engineering project.
What has been announced is that all around the UK coasts around seven hundred new turbines will be constructed, expanding our generating capacity to 38 giga watts. Unlike the positioning of wind turbines on the land these will be in positions where the turbines will fully benefit from the wind.
One of the problems of the current situation is where turbines are placed on the land; they are frequently sited near the infrastructure, to connect to the grid, rather than placed where they will benefit from the wind. All this is purely because of government grants and tax breaks, which subsidise the manufacturing and installation of these turbines, hence the companies positioning them are not basing their positioning decisions upon the need the need to generate the maximum electricity to make the turbines pay as they would if this were a purely commercial decision. Therefore creating opposition to wind power.
The difficulty with pensioning wind turbines off shore is quite a technical problem because of the difficulties of servicing the modules once installed, as well as the difficulties of building them. But one thing our off shore oil industry gave us was the skills to work in this hostile environment. The plans to involve building enough capacity to generate enough to power for every home in the UK, and that will mean about 7000 of these windmills. This will have the potential to either damage or enhance the marine environment.
As with any construction in the sea, there is the potential to damage the delicate marine habitats, be it reefs or sand banks or the spawning grounds of a multitude of species that inhabit our waters. Therefore the exact positioning of each structure needs to be carefully planed. After all destroying one environment to try and save another would leave a bitter taste in the mouth of many. However, the towers that have been installed thus far have produced mini reefs allowing many marine creatures a safe and expanded habitat.
All this could dramatically reduce the carbon impact of electricity generation, while it is true that manufacturing and installation will generate a carbon footprint, at least the positioning of these turbines offshore will ensure the turbines will be placed where they will operate most efficiently. The will also be the need for other forms of generation as turbines only generate power when the wind is blowing. Also these windmills cannot generate power in very high winds.
However, on the whole all this could reduce the climatic impact and carbon footprint for future generations.
While I have reservations about the environmental impact of this on the marine environment, on the whole I am in favour of this plan if it ever becomes a reality.
First, to have this policy announced by someone other than the environment minister shows that the UK government is starting to take the issues of climate change seriously and that environmental considerations are permeating all aspects of government policy. There are other aspects of policy that are far from environmental, but this does sound as if in part at least the UK government appears to be taking the issues of climate change seriously. I say appears as while this policy and plan has been announced, the government expects private investment to create this massive engineering project.
What has been announced is that all around the UK coasts around seven hundred new turbines will be constructed, expanding our generating capacity to 38 giga watts. Unlike the positioning of wind turbines on the land these will be in positions where the turbines will fully benefit from the wind.
One of the problems of the current situation is where turbines are placed on the land; they are frequently sited near the infrastructure, to connect to the grid, rather than placed where they will benefit from the wind. All this is purely because of government grants and tax breaks, which subsidise the manufacturing and installation of these turbines, hence the companies positioning them are not basing their positioning decisions upon the need the need to generate the maximum electricity to make the turbines pay as they would if this were a purely commercial decision. Therefore creating opposition to wind power.
The difficulty with pensioning wind turbines off shore is quite a technical problem because of the difficulties of servicing the modules once installed, as well as the difficulties of building them. But one thing our off shore oil industry gave us was the skills to work in this hostile environment. The plans to involve building enough capacity to generate enough to power for every home in the UK, and that will mean about 7000 of these windmills. This will have the potential to either damage or enhance the marine environment.
As with any construction in the sea, there is the potential to damage the delicate marine habitats, be it reefs or sand banks or the spawning grounds of a multitude of species that inhabit our waters. Therefore the exact positioning of each structure needs to be carefully planed. After all destroying one environment to try and save another would leave a bitter taste in the mouth of many. However, the towers that have been installed thus far have produced mini reefs allowing many marine creatures a safe and expanded habitat.
All this could dramatically reduce the carbon impact of electricity generation, while it is true that manufacturing and installation will generate a carbon footprint, at least the positioning of these turbines offshore will ensure the turbines will be placed where they will operate most efficiently. The will also be the need for other forms of generation as turbines only generate power when the wind is blowing. Also these windmills cannot generate power in very high winds.
However, on the whole all this could reduce the climatic impact and carbon footprint for future generations.
While I have reservations about the environmental impact of this on the marine environment, on the whole I am in favour of this plan if it ever becomes a reality.
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