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Wind Energy

Climate Change and the Need for Renewable Energy

The amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere has been rapidly increasing over the last 100 years. This is due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil, which contain carbon. As the proportion of CO₂ in the atmosphere changes, the way it retains heat also changes. Scientists now believe this is what is causing the average temperature of the earth to increase, leading to climate change.

Many people predict that the rapid rise in damage caused by natural disasters over the last 30 years is linked to climate change, and unless the global community changes the way it uses and generates energy this process may completely disrupt the global economy in years to come, along with countless lives. In response to this threat, the UN agreed the Kyoto Protocol in Japan in 1997. This requires industrialised nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂ and others) by 5% of 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The UK has agreed to meet this target, but this is only the start of what is needed.

In the Government's recent white paper it stated it's goal of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. This is a massive task. Renewable energy is the name for technologies which can generate electricity or heat peoples homes without burning fossils fuels. The energy source is constantly renewed, like the energy in the wind or waves. Getting to this target will mean a huge increase in the amount of renewable energy we use.

The Government has already put in place legislation to begin this process. The Renewables Obligation came into force in April 2002, obliging all electricity suppliers to source 10% of their supply from renewable technologies by 2010. Wind energy is uniquely placed to start this process and is a rapidly expanding business, set to account for 8% of electricity generation by 2010. It is by far the cheapest of the renewable energy technologies, already generating electricity at prices that are competitive with conventional thermal power plants and well below those for coal and nuclear.

Introduction to wind energy
UK wind market
Find out more about climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the Met Office.