Onshore wind farms are under attack. Vocal lobby groups have sprung up around the world to target this technology, describing windfarms as noisy, expensive eyesores. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron said in December 2014 that ‘enough was enough’, and declared that subsidies for wind would soon end. Many of the (usually politically conservative) groups expressing concern about wind power are, on the other hand, happy to throw their support behind fracking – the process of blasting sand and chemical-laced high-pressure water kilometres into the ground to extract gas. This is despite emerging warnings from the US and Australia that unconventional gas operations can contaminate water supplies and disrupt the countryside with heavy goods traffic. The same groups that are quick to point out the potential threat to birds from badly sited wind turbines seem unconcerned by the far greater environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction.
39% The amount of Denmark’s electricity generated from wind power in 2014 – a new world record.
