MoD threatening renewables target
Ministry of Defence (MoD) guidelines are threatening the government’s renewable energy target, according to the Royal Society.
The government wants the UK to generate ten per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010.
To achieve this goal the number of wind farms will need to increase dramatically over the next few years.
However, according to the Royal Society, any site within 74km of a military radar facility is blocked by the MoD.
The scientific body warns that this approach is undermining the drive towards renewable power and has urged the MoD to review its position.
The MoD rejected 48 per cent of planning applications for new wind turbines last year.
Professor David Wallace, vice president of the Royal Society, said the guidelines were “at odds” with the rest of Europe.
In Germany, for example, the government imposes a 5km exclusion zone around radar sites.
