Farming the sea breeze

The Crown Estate, official owner of Britain’s territorial seabeds, has given
the go-ahead for the first 18 offshore wind farms to be developed around the
British coast. WWF, the global environment network, says the move is essential
if Britain is to meet its aim of drawing 10 per cent of its electricity from
renewable sources by 2010. “This is a terrific start,” says Frank Parrish, Crown
Estate head of marine estates. “If all of these sites were to go ahead, the
power generated would be between 1000 and 1500 megawatts, enough to power over
one million households.”