The winds of change are offering serious opportunities for engineers

摘要

Only a few months ago wind power came across as small scale, intermittent, low-tech and harmless. It was one of those 'renewables' that environmentalists loved to celebrate, but that seemed almost irrelevant to the serious business of the electricity industry. However, the technology has changed and many people's vision of a row of 10m turbines atop a range of hills, with blades turning quickly and constructed in the face of fierce local opposition, is outdated. The modern reality is quite different. The future of wind power is at sea, ideally 30km out. There are good technical, political and environmental reasons for such offshore locations, but surely it is no coincidence that the turbines are far out at sea where they cannot spoil the view.