UK leads in wind power to reach 2030 goal

The recent publication of the zero carbon Britain report outlines a path for carbon neutral transition by 2030. The report highlights the key role of wind technology in reducing the UK's carbon emissions. The UK is currently the world leader in offshore wind technology with more current and future projects than any other country in the world.

In addition to leading the world in wind technology, figures from the IEA Wind Energy Report 2009, rank the UK 8th in the world amongst users of wind power. Measured by megawatts of installed capacity, the United States comes first, Germany second Spain third, China and India come third and fourth respectively, Italy fifth one place above France and Denmark and Portugal fall below the United Kingdom in ninth and tenth place.

However, when compared to other alternative sources of power such as nuclear energy the UK drops to ninth, Japan is third France is second and the United States leads the way as the country with the highest installed capacity.

The importance of wind power to the UK's carbon neutral target is a focus of the Offshore Wind Conference and Exhibition, held in Liverpool from the 29th - 30th of June. The conference and exhibition which examines project development and the future of offshore wind power will bring together professionals from across the sector for a series of speeches and discussions. The conference is also open to students and visitor passes for the exhibition are £79 at the event.

The UK's premier renewable energy event, Renewable UK 2010 Conference and Exhibition, takes place on November 2-4, is expected to attract over 4000 visitors. Exhibition tickets are £59, though the event is open to the public for free on the third day.