Can Wind Farms Produce Significant Electricity?

Can wind farms produce significant amounts of electricity?

Although there are vast quantities of wind energy available, harnessing the wind involves capturing energy that is relatively diffuse in the environment. Critics claim large, centralized power stations are more efficient, and that wind power will never be able to replace them.

An individual turbine might not contribute much on a national scale, but together many can make a huge difference. The UK Government calculates that onshore wind could theoretically meet 80 per cent of our current electricity demand, and that the offshore resource could supply 10 times this amount. More conservative estimates, taking into account things like land availability, suggest an achievable figure of about 70 per cent of current electricity generation from on- and offshore wind by 2030.