77% of UK public believe wind energy is necessary;

12% of the world’s electricity can be derived from wind by 2020

The UK Government has prioritised climate change for their G8 and EU Presidencies this year and less than a week before the G8 Summit starts (7-8 July), BWEA releases its third NOP ‘Wind Tracker’ that shows that more than three quarters of the public (77%) believe that wind energy is necessary to help meet our current and future energy needs and help tackle climate change.

Today’s poll is the third poll in the series undertaken by NOP World for the British Wind Energy Association, all of which have shown a continuing high support for the development of wind energy in the UK.

The new poll is released on the same day that Greenpeace and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) launched ‘Windforce 12′, a global industry blueprint that describes how wind power can supply 12% of the world’s electricity by 2020. The report is a crucial tool in the race to cut greenhouse gas emissions as 12% electricity from a total of 1,250 gigawatt (GW) of wind power installed will save a cumulative 10,771 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, a key contributor to climate change.

The report also highlights that thirteen key countries, including the UK, can play a leadership role to help unlock the major market deployment envisaged by this industry blueprint: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Poland, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

In the report, the value of the global market for wind turbines is to move from the current 8 billion to an estimated 80 billion annual business by 2020. Wind power is one of the most effective power technologies that is ready today for global deployment on the requisite scale, and can be installed far quicker than other conventional power stations. Today, wind power installed in Europe is saving over 50 million tonnes of CO2 a year and is on track by 2010 to deliver one third of the EU’s Kyoto commitment. In the UK, wind power is set to grow rapidly as the Government implements its plan to generate 10% of the nation’s electricity from renewables by 2010. The majority, some 7-8 GW of new power, will be met from on and offshore wind energy.

The UK is now one of only eight countries around the world to have installed over a gigawatt of wind energy capacity, a record which was broken earlier this month with the opening of the UK’s largest onshore wind farm to date, the 58.5 MW Cefn Croes project in Ceredigion in Wales. Breaking the gigawatt barrier comes in a record year of growth for the UK wind industry, with a total of 18 new wind projects totaling some 500 MW of capacity expected to be officially commissioned by year end, taking UK wind generation to over 1% of UK electricity supply. Meanwhile continued development in the offshore sector means that sometime in 2006, the UK is set to become the world’s number one offshore wind generator, and a significant player in the global wind energy market.

Marcus Rand, CEO of BWEA said:

“Wind energy has now firmly arrived in the UK. This year the wind industry is breaking all records as we expand to meet the bulk of the Government’s renewable targets. This new report makes clear that the UK is a critical market in the global roll out of this exciting carbon free source of power. For us to deliver our potential here in the UK it is essential that the progress that has been made over the past few years is built upon and maintained.”

Corin Millais, of the Global Wind Energy Council said:

“Wind power is one of the few energy supply technologies that is ready for a broader roll out today; wind has the maturity, clout and global muscle to deliver deep cuts in CO2, while providing a hedge against fluctuating fossil fuel prices and reduce energy import dependence. The global energy challenge of our time is not only to tackle climate change, but to meet the rising demand for energy and to safeguard security of energy supplies. As a power technology which can meet these three challenges, wind energy is a leading candidate.”

Greenpeace, joint authors of ‘Windforce 12′, commented on the report today in advance of the G8 summit. Stephen Tindale, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK said:

“The barriers to harnessing Europe’s massive wind resources are not technological, they are political. If Tony Blair had been willing to expend half as much time and effort embracing the wind revolution as he has on his fruitless attempt to shift George Bush, the UK would have a world-beating industry and our carbon emissions would be going down rather than up.”

Original press release: Support for wind remains strong as new report highlights global role of wind power (BWEA)