Why is the UK so far behind in harnessing wind turbine technology?
In what way is it far behind in harnessing wind turbine technology? Certainly the large manufacturers with their technology are based overseas Here it is a long process to site a wind farm – planing permission etc. and there is an additional problem that the good areas are far from the population (such as in the Scottish Highlands). We could build wind farms there but the cost of the infrastructure to move the electricity to London for example would be huge for the amount of electricity generated. Remember also that when the politicians quote “Could power a town the size of ….” they mean when the wind is blowing at its optimum speed – it doesnt do that often and so it isnt that relaible form of energy, we still need traditional methods for when the wind isnt blowing. Tidal power is more predictable but there are still times when the tides are small.
