UK Faces Economic Wind of Change

The contrast could not have been starker.

As the great and the good of the wind energy industry gathered together at Londons Excel Centre, a fiery contingent of Cornish locals congregated outside an award winning tourist attraction, protesting against the planned erection of a 400ft wind turbine.

And whilst the energy leaders were treated to a plethora of praise from the Prime Minister himself, Tim Smit, founder of the award-winning attraction 'The Eden Project', wasn't so lucky. He was facing an army of angry protestors stepping up their fight against the £3m 'montrosity', planned for erection at the famed bio-sphere.

A plan six months in the making, Mr Smit had argued that as an ecological charity, Eden Project had a duty to "walk the talk", a philosophy more than adequately shared by his counter-parties who packed themselves into Trethurgy village hall. In what may have appeared to be a distinctly one-sided event, the gathered masses in the cornish enclave were in fact unwittingly handing wind farm developers the trump card they needed. An illustration of the need for offshore wind.

For years the case for offshore wind was belittled by the arguments against it. Cost, weather, time, and skills were all viewed as punitive factors when considered against onshore farms. However, the offshore schemes bypass something a lot more costly - NIMBYism. Onshore wind farm development has become slow, painful and costly, due to the protracted planning process adopted by councils and the unwillingness of local communities to embrace the need for change.

The protestors of Cornwall may have felt satisfied at their stand against a sole wind turbine, but it bolstered the case for offshore wind and especially deep-water wind, where little planning permission is needed due to its distance from shore. The further the turbine is from shore, the smaller they appear, the smaller they appear, the fewers objections submitted.

Whilst the west-country tree-huggers marched through the town, passionately objecting about anything that moved in a gust, the UK Government blew in on a gale of grand band-wagon hopping and dealt the assembled Excel masses the boost they needed. The UK was now a world-leader in offshore wind and the best was yet to come. Gordon Brown (via video feed), deftly announced that no economic turbulance would mess with the Governments green agenda and the Government would in fact brush aside any bottle-necks facing the wind developers in their offshore development plans.

Simultaneously, The Carbon Trust announced a new alliance between leading wind energy companies, which would invest over £30m to identify development cost-cutting measures.

The cannons were out and today was the day of the 21 gun salute for the offshore wind industry. Lets just hope they made a mental note, think twice before turbining the coast of Cornwall.