"A big expansion in the amount of electricity generated from offshore wind power is due to be announced by the government.
Licenses are being issued for thousands of turbines to be built off the British coast to generate as much energy as around six nuclear power stations.
It will also make a major contribution to the government's targets for renewable energy and create up to 20,000 jobs.
It is the biggest single step taken to increase the amount of electricity produced without polluting the atmosphere, BBC environment correspondent Tim Hirsch said.
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt will announce the leasing of large areas of the seabed around the North West coast, the Wash and the Thames Estuary for companies to build wind turbines.
They will produce more than 10 times the power of all existing wind farms put together and will cost around �6bn.
If they all succeed, they will amount to about 5% of the total power needs of the UK.
Ms Hewitt said the move was wildly supported by the public who agreed with the government that cleaner sources of energy were needed.
"We have got the best wind resources in the whole of Europe and it is crazy that we are lagging behind countries like Germany and Spain and Denmark, when we have the great expertise in off-shore developments that we built up with North Sea oil," she told Breakfast.
The move will be welcomed by environmental groups but some sites will face objections because of a possible impact on birds and wildlife.
The British Wind Energy Association said it was "fantastic news".
Chief executive Marcus Rand said: "We have the best off-shore wind resource in Europe and today's announcement signals that we are now on track to seriously develop it.
"Successful projects from this announcement could account for over half of the government's 10% target and could be supplying clean electricity to four million households by 2010." "
-- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible."
- Bertrand Russell _______________________________________________
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
