Scotland

Wind farms have the Scots swept off their feet. A recent study by Mori Scotland, a market research agency in the uk, has found overwhelming support for wind energy. Four out of five respondents (82 per cent) were in favour of the renewable source being tapped to meet the country's energy needs. The sample was drawn from people living within 20 km of Scotland's 10 largest wind farms, which have nine or more turbines on site. Prior to the completion of a wind farm in their vicinity, 61 per cent of the respondents envisaged problems; the figure dropped to 22 per cent upon completion. Initial concerns about noise, traffic and landscape obstruction disappeared once the development was complete. Further, while 20 per cent felt that the local wind farm had had a positive impact on the area, 7 per cent said the opposite, with a majority toeing the neutral line. These findings support the results of a survey published last year, which had found 91 per cent of tourists to be unaffected by the presence of wind power generators in the area.

Predictably, the survey has the greens excited. Duncan McLaren, chief executive, Friends of the Earth Scotland, was thrilled. "For those who are ideologically opposed to wind power it is time to face the facts that unlike them, the Scottish public is not prepared to sit back and let the world's climate be trashed,' he said. The authorities, on their part, welcomed the results. "The executive is committed to increasing Scotland's renewable electricity generation, so it is particularly pleasing that the majority of those surveyed would back such an increase', said Lewis Macdonald, a minister in the Scottish government.