RenewableUK said its survey of over 1,000 people, conducted by Ipsos Mori, was proof that opponents of wind farms, while vocal, are in the minority. Chief executive Maria McCaffery said it would be “undemocratic” to allow that minority to “derail the UK’s plans for renewable energy and undermine investment and jobs”.
However, the antiwind lobby group, National Opposition of Windfarms, which promises to lobby against and help those opposed to new local wind farm developments, argues that the windfarms are already costing the UK £1 billion a year in subsidies. It claims turbines do not significantly reduce carbon emissions and have too big an impact on the UK’s countryside, which would damage national income from tourism. It also argues that the job prospects for the UK from wind energy have been talked up. See its charter here.
RenewableUK’s poll was published the day after South Korea’s biggest company, Doosan, pulled out of plans to build a wind turbine factory in Scotland. It would have built offshore wind turbines at the plant but cited a fall in confidence in the offshore wind market for its change of heart.