Clean, renewable forms of energy, such as wind power, are essential if we are to tackle climate change. Wind power does not produce dangerous waste, nor does it contribute to global warming.

It's abundant and reliable. The UK is the windiest country in Europe and the resource is much greater during the colder months of the year, when energy demand is at its highest. Wind power, in combination with a full range of renewable energy technologies, such as wave and solar, could meet all of our electricity needs.

Wind is a form of solar energy. The uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, the irregularities of the earth’s surface, and rotation of the earth cause winds. Wind flow patterns are modified by the earth's terrain, bodies of water, and vegetation. Humans use this wind flow, or motion energy, for many purposes: sailing, flying a kite, and even generating electricity.

The terms wind energy or wind power describes the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft, which connects to a generator and converts this mechanical power into electricity.

Every unit (kWh) of electricity produced by wind power displaces a unit of electricity, which would otherwise have been produced by a power station burning fossil fuel. This is a generally accepted fact used by many organisations, including Government, in their environmental calculations. Wind-generated electricity does not replace electricity from nuclear power stations because these operate at 'base load', that is they will be working for the whole time that they are available.

Nuclear plant operates at base-load, as does almost all gas plant.It is the output from coal-fired plant, which is adjusted to meet the electricity on the system. Source BWEA

The production of electricity from coal-fired, oil-fired or gas-fired power stations produces the following gasses:

• Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
• Sulphur dioxide (SO₂)
• Nitrogen oxides (NO_x)

It is these gaseous emissions that are increasing the ‘greenhouse’ effect on our climate and contributing towards global warming. Typically the following emissions are released into the atmosphere for every kilowatt-hour of electricity produced by a coal-fired power station:

• 860g of CO₂
• 10g of SO₂
• 3g of NO_x.

Using these figures it is possible to calculate the displacement or reduction of these gaseous emissions that the electricity produced by a wind turbine will make.  These figures are based on a single small 1MW (1000 kilowatt hours) wind turbine with a capacity factor of 30% (i.e. they operate for 30% of the time):

• CO₂ in tonnes 2260 per annum
• SO₂in tonnes 263 per annum
• NO_x in tonnes 7.9 per annum.