Abstract
There is a pressing need to decarbonise the UK energy supply system. This will require more focused attention upon efficiency measures as well as a step change in the delivery of new renewable energy supplies. The timeline for the delivery of new capacity is short, driven by targets for emission reductions and renewable energy deployment set at the national and EU levels. Wind turbines, as a market ready technology suited to the UK’s bountiful natural wind resource, will need to be constructed rapidly both on and offshore to deliver new sustainable, renewable sources of energy. Over the coming 11 years up to 2020, the UK is anticipated to need to install a minimum of 1GW per year every year of onshore wind capacity, in order to meet its renewable energy target set by the European Union. This would in addition to 2GW of offshore wind per year every year until 2020, coupled with an anticipated expansion of bioenergy use and increase in tidal based energy production.
To accommodate the extra capacity on a tight timetable while remaining sensitive to social and environmental considerations will be a significant challenge. This report seeks to address one of the central environmental concerns – nature conservation. Other issues, such as landscape are important and need due consideration, but are not the focus of this work.
There are genuine concerns over the impact of poorly sited wind farms upon nature conservation, which need to be balanced against the desire to expand wind energy capacity rapidly. Here the land use planning system has a pivotal role. At present, planning systems for onshore wind are not always successful in guiding development to sites that are appropriate from a nature conservation perspective, at a pace of development sufficient to meet the demands of the next decade. Based on analysis of planning systems across the UK and in Germany, Spain and Denmark, certain actions have been identified that could: improve planning processes; help increase acceptance of onshore wind; take account of nature conservation concerns; and simultaneously accelerate the expansion of environmentally sustainable onshore wind capacity.
To create an effective planning system that respects nature conservation concerns whilst securing rapid onshore wind development, it is not simply a case of streamlining planning requirements – as some might argue. This study identifies a number of elements that need to interact successfully, to deliver these dual aims.