Scotland produced enough wind energy for double its homes in last six months

The wind turbines at Findhorn, which make the Ecovillage a net exporter of electricity.

In the first half of 2019, Scottish wind generated enough electricity to power the equivalent of 4.47 million homes, almost double the number of homes there.

Some people don't love the sight of humanity fighting dirty power by means of clean energy – like, say, a certain U.S. president who once filed a lawsuit in Scotland vowing to “spend whatever monies are necessary to see to it that these huge and unsightly industrial wind turbines are never constructed.”

Scotland did not cave in and guess what: In the first six months of 2019, the country's "horrible idea of building ugly wind turbines" (same president) has paid off handsomely. Between January and June, wind turbines in Scotland generated 9,831,320 megawatt hours – enough electricity to power the equivalent of 4.47 million homes for six months ... almost double the number of homes in Scotland, reports CNBC.

The country's government hopes to produce half of the country’s energy consumption from renewables by 2030, and if the beginning of 2019 is any indication, it doesn't seem too far out of reach.

“These are amazing figures, Scotland’s wind energy revolution is clearly continuing to power ahead," Robin Parker, Climate and Energy Policy Manager said in a statement from WWF Scotland. "Up and down the country, we are all benefitting from cleaner energy and so is the climate."

“These figures show harnessing Scotland’s plentiful onshore wind potential can provide clean green electricity for millions of homes across not only Scotland, but England as well."

WWF notes that this news comes as the UK has been experiencing some of the longest periods without coal power since the days of the Industrial Revolution. Call it unsightly if you want, but I'd say wind turbines are a far sight prettier than carbon pollution from dirty power plants.

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By Melissa Breyer / Managing Editor

With a background in food, science, art and design, Melissa has edited and written for national and international publications including The New York Times Magazine. She is the co-author of Build Your Running Body (The Experiment, 2014) and True Food: Eight Simple Steps to a Healthier You (National Geographic, 2009), and a contributing writer for Extreme Weather Survival Guide (National Geographic, 2014) as well as a photo editor for Black and White Street (Solaris Studio, 2014).

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(Source: treehugger.com; July 15, 2019; https://tinyurl.com/y3p9cbo5)
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