UK Proposes Wind Power Investment

The UK intends to boost their production of wind power 60-fold by 2020, under plans released yesterda by business secretary John Hutton, the BBC reports. The secretary proposed an investment into the construction of 7,000 mostly off-shore wind turbines to produce a target of 33 gigawatts that could "power the equivalent of all of the UK's homes." The UK currently produces 2.2 gigawatts from mostly on-shore wind power.

Hutton conceded that installing turbines every half-mile would change Britain’s coastline, but said energy independence was worth the costs: "I do not want in 20 years' time to find that whether the lights go on in the morning is down to some foreign government." Critics say the government’s plan erroneously shifts investment to off-shore installations, and that wind power should be but one facet of a balanced energy portfolio. (More green energy stories.)