Britain's Growing Onshore Wind Industry Worth £568 Million
Recent research conducted by the RenewableUK and the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change revealed the British onshore wind energy industry was worth £568 million in 2011.
The two organizations compiled their findings into a report entitled, Onshore Wind, Direct and Wider Economic Benefits.
The economic benefits of Britain's onshore wind industry are also reflected in the employment arena. Currently 8,600 Britons are employed in the industry. The report estimates that by 2020 this number could more than double to 17,900 in the wind energy workforce.
The U.K. is home to 4.5-gigawatts of onshore wind energy, making it the eighth largest harvester of wind energy on the planet. The island-nation has another 1.4 GW of wind farms under construction, 4 GW that have been approved but not yet built, and a further 7.7 GW of onshore projects in the planning process. In total, there is 17.6 GW of wind power either in operation or in the pipeline.
Such development is not only critical to the government's goal of generating 20% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2020, but also will be economic bounty for the country. The report projects that if 19 GW of onshore wind energy are installed by 2020, the industry will be worth £1.183 billion.
Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, said: Not only does wind power provide secure, low carbon power to homes and businesses, it supports jobs and brings significant investment up and down the country too. With he cost of technology coming down, there is a real opportunity to reap the economic benefits onshore wind can bring."
Nathanael Baker is the Managing Editor of EnergyBoom. He has researched and reported on the issues of renewable energy, sustainability, and climate change for over two years. He has provided research to the New York Times and The Economist, as well as being published on different media outlets including, The Energy Collective.
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