Wind energy has been harnessed for thousands of years. It's a natural resource which doesn't run out or produce any greenhouse gases that damage our environment.

The Chinese and Babylonians were among the first to use wind energy to power pumps to irrigate their land. Throughout Europe in the middle ages, wind power was used to power mills for wheat and corn which is when the name "windmill" first came into use.

Technology has moved on and modern day wind turbines are used to generate electricity.

With Europe's largest onshore wind farm on Eaglesham Moor in East Renfrewshire, Scotland being officially opened this week, I thought why not have a quick look into the pro's, con's and what is wind power.

In 2007, wind energy overtook hydro-power to become the UK's largest renewable energy source, contributing 2.2% of the UK's electricity supply. Still a tiny fraction of what is possible and nowhere near the Government's Renewable Energy Strategy of generating 15% of the UK's energy by renewable energy sources by 2010.

The UK is the windiest country in Europe. A modern turbine at a suitable site can generate 6.5 million units of electricity, enough to power 1400 households or a run a computer for 2,250 years! So why aren't we seeing masses of wind turbines?

Pro's of wind energy

• Wind is free at the point of use, unlike fossil fuels that need large scale investment to drill/mine and transport.
• Wind is a finite local resource unlike oil/gas/coal that is not subject to poliical conflicts resulting in fluctuations in supply and price.
  
• The energy consumption required to produce, install and operate a wind turbine is usually earned back between 3-5 months of operation.
• Wind farms can produce electricity cheaper than nuclear power and with less damage to the environment that traditional fossil fuelled power stations.
• A wind turbines working life expectancy is 20 years and when obsolete it can be fully decommissioned simply without hazardous waste products or issues of next generation site use.
• Wind turbines do not cause or create pollution while in use.
• Individually wind turbines have a small area footprint so farmers can still use the land around them.

Con's of wind energy

• Often seen as "eye-sores", wind turbines need to be high up for higher wind speeds
• Wind turbines are perceived as noisy. While improvements in the motors and blades have been made to reduce noise, there is still the "swoosh" of the blades while they turn which is out of lace with the perceived "quietness" of the countryside
• In some cases trees need to be cleared affecting local wildlife habitat.
• The height of the structure means large holes are required to take the concrete support resulting in disruption to the local habitats while construction takes place.
• Many claim that 1000's of birds each year are killed by the giant turbines. However, the RSPB recently appealed for more wind farms to be built in the UK and that it was viable without damaging nature conservation.
• There are claims that wind farms affect local tourism.  However, some wind farms have visitor centres that attract tourism themselves.

So it would appear that the biggest hurdle to overcome is peoples perceptions and NIMBY attitudes.