Environmental policy and law for offshore wind energy development

This is an investigation into how the developments in offshore wind energy have been and could be incorporated into law and policy with particular reference to environmental issues. The U.K. has an obligation to produce 10% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010; If we can improve our sustainable development with regard to wind energy we will have more of an opportunity to reach this target. The legislation that comes into place is to protect our environment and endeavours to assist us in lowering carbon emission. Before efficient legislation can be implemented we must first understand the impact of offshore wind energy and how any negative impacts may be mitigated against? Interviews were constructed using archival research in order to investigate the current opinions of stakeholders involved in wind farm developments. From analysing these interviews it emerged that many of the sectors operated differently and expected very different things from future legislation. From the data it was thus concluded that the individual encourages sustainability but believes it needs to be achieved on a global level. Legislation can create cooperative action for sustainability but it needs to be considered in the context of the impacts of development- environmentally, socially and economically.Facility of scienc