While many people may not take the eccentric views of the Duke of Edinburgh too seriously these days, his anti-wind farm comments have hit the headlines today and are causing a bit of a stir.

So, we thought you might like to hear some positive things about wind energy today. No apologies for re-running this blog which we first aired back in June for Global Wind Day – it’s all still relevant, not to mention inspiring.

Windspiration:

1) Over 50% of Good Energy’s electricity is currently sourced from wind – much of it from our new wind farm in Delabole, Cornwall.

 2) Meet Mr. W - German wind energy developer Epuron has distilled the virtues (and vices) of wind into this inspiring film.

 3) Officially the windiest country in Europe, the UK enjoys 40% of the continent’s entire resource – so there’s plenty of potential for Mr. W to flourish here too.

 4) Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests shows how the wind can be harnessed to power art as well as our homes and businesses.

 5) Discovering new ways to generate power from the wind has led to a multitude of innovative designs. Not all of them are like to make it to market – not sure about the Power Flower Wind Turbine Trees – but there might be hope for this Wind Tower that’s been proposed in Japan.

 6) Even without these innovations, the average energy payback time for a wind farm is approximately one year. Today’s wind farms are able to generate electricity 80 – 85 % of the time.

 7) We love this ad. Unfortunately it’s for the decidedly un-clean US power company General Electric but we thought it was too good not to share. It would be great to see such engaging communications in the UK too. Capturing the wind and putting it to good use.

 8) Wind energy is one of the cheapest of the renewable energy technologies. It is competitive with new clean coal fired power stations and cheaper than new nuclear power. The cost of wind energy varies according to many factors. An average for a new onshore wind farm in a good location is 3-4 pence per unit, competitive with new coal (2.5-4.5p) and cheaper than new nuclear (4-7p).

 9) Did you know there was a song extolling the virtues of wind energy? Whilst it’s unlikely to top the charts, it’s an effective educational tool!

 10) With all this wonderful windspiration we’re not surprised that, according to Renewable UK –eight out of ten people in the country are in favour of wind energy.