England ‘4,700 years from building enough onshore windfarms’

National Grid estimates onshore wind capacity needs to increase to more than 30 gigawatts across Great Britain by 2030. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

It would take almost 4,700 years for England to build enough onshore windfarms to help meet the UK’s clean energy needs unless the government lifts an effective block on new turbines, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Only 17 small-scale onshore windfarms have been approved in England since 2015 when the government changed planning laws to create a de facto ban on onshore windfarms, according to the thinktank.