In context: The United Kingdom is no stranger to tackling topics like climate change and clean energy. To name a couple examples, leaaders have considered offering citizens cash payments to switch away from combustion engine vehicles, and in 2018, the country proposed regulations that would require new homes to have EV chargers built-in.
The country isn’t stopping there, though. As part of a broader push to hasten its transition to cleaner energy sources, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson now reportedly claims the government will invest around £160 million (that’s roughly $207 million) in offshore wind technology.
To be more specific, that money will be used to build factories that can create these energy-generating wind turbines, as well as ports that can deploy them.
The UK will attempt to power every single home in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales using these turbines by 2030. All in all, the UK aims to generate around 40GW of wind energy to accomplish that feat.
That’s an incredibly ambitious goal, and it’s difficult to say whether or not UK leaders will be able to pull it off. When your task amounts to essentially transitioning an entire country over to a different form of energy, ten years doesn’t seem like much time at all.
Still, there’s always the possibility that the UK’s leaders will surprise us and the rest of the world. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavors, and we’ll keep you updated on their progress over time.
Image credit: General Electric, The University of British Columbia