Electric wind

A new

study into the potential of small-scale wind energy has found that small wind turbines could provide up to 1.5TWh per year of electricity and 0.6MtCO

emissions savings.

This is based on 10 per cent of households installing turbines at costs competitive with grid electricity, which is currently around £0.12 per kWh.

The report marks the culmination of 18 months of research by the Met Office and Entec.

The study also indicates that for the UK as a whole, the majority of electricity and carbon savings are available from small turbines in rural areas.

Turbines in some rural locations, where wind speeds are generally higher, could provide cheaper electricity than the grid, but in some urban situations, roof-mounted turbines may not pay back their embedded carbon emissions.

Recommendations to improve existing government policy measures include higher height limits for standalone turbines to help maximise the overall carbon savings of small-scale wind energy; and a criterion in new grant schemes to measure likely carbon savings.