In 2020 UK could be "Gone with the wind"

The Brown government is set to unveil an ambitious proposal to build 7,000 new wind turbines off Britain's coast by 2020, effectively producing enough electricity - 33 gigawatts - to power all of the country's homes. John Hutton, the Secretary of State for Business, will make the announcement, backed by both the Labourites and Conservatives, at a conference in Berlin.

Currently, Britain's offshore wind farm system produces around 2 gigawatts, enough to power roughly 1.5m homes; the government hopes to meet the EU's target of producing 20% of energy by renewable sources by 2020 with its planned expansion. The plan would result in a turbine being build for every half mile of coastline.

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