Giant Windfarms / Giant Monies

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/08/uk-offshore-windfarms-100bn

The UK government announced a £75bn programme today to build thousands of offshore wind turbines that will kickstart the next phase of renewable power generation in Britain.  The developments could create tens of thousands of new jobs, which will be crucial if the UK is to meet its targets for clean energy and carbon emission cuts.  Gordon Brown said: "This new round of licences provides a substantial new platform for investing in UK industrial capacity. The offshore wind industry is at the heart of the UK economy's shift to low carbon and could be worth £75bn and support up to 70,000 jobs by 2020."

I presume these windfarms will be part of Europe's renewable energy supergrid that I posted about earlier. And how much is Canada investing in windfarms?   Our capacity right now is 3,3319 MW.  The UK has  2,764 turbines that generate 4,070 MW right now, and, according to the Guardian above, has plans to build thousands more.  The federal government had a program (announced January 2007)  to support the deployment of 4,000 MW of renewable energy by 2011. The program was not expanded or extended in the 2009 federal budget. (http://www.canwea.ca/farms/wind-farms_e.php )
The Prime Ministers of our respective countries have a vastly different outlook and ideology...

Another Missed Opportunity

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/16/uk-green-technologies

Britain's transformation to a low-carbon society will be delayed by a lack of people trained in the right skills unless the government significantly increases its investment in the sector, a group of MPs have warned. They said that hundreds of thousands of jobs could be created if the government doubled its funding of green technologies, making the UK a world leader in a market worth £3tr worldwide.

"The government has missed a big opportunity to kick-start a green industrial revolution with its £3bn fiscal stimulus. Germany, the US, Japan and China have invested billions in their low-carbon industries," said Tim Yeo MP, chair of the House of Commons environmental audit committee (EAC).

In the US, the government has spent about £50bn to create half a million new green jobs, while Germany, Japan and Korea have also announced major plans to grow their domestic environmental sectors. China's economic stimulus plan includes £142bn for environmental measures

And what are Canada's plans for funding green technologies and clean energy?  It seems we are defending the tar sands instead .... another missed opportunity.

Perhaps our PM should read The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman.