The beauty of wind power

Clouds form in the wake of Denmark's Horns Rev windfarm – one of the world's largest at sea
Photograph: Aeolus

A maintenance boat works on the new Burbo Bank off-shore windfarm in the mouth of the River Mersey, Liverpool. The farm comprises 25 turbines and is capable of generating up to 90MW of electricity – enough for approximately 80,000 homes
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Wind turbines and sheep mingle atop the hills of Manawatu, Tararua in New Zealand. This windfarm provides enough electricity to meet the needs of 145,000 households
Photograph: Mark Coote/Getty Images

Turbines line this snowy, almost unreal landscape in the mountains of Lugo in north-west Spain
Photograph: Xulio Villarino/Getty Images

Fehmarn Island in north Germany, where wind turbines accompany a traditional, agricultural landscape
Photograph: Karl-Heinz Haenel/Corbis

Giant wind turbines are powered by strong prevailing winds near Palm Springs, California. A US government report released this week concluded that wind energy could account for 20% of the US's electricity by 2030 – as much as is generated by nuclear reactors. It currently produces about 1% of the US's electricity
Photograph: David McNew/Getty Images

Workers in Halle, eastern Germany ascend a dizzying 100m to install machinery into a 2.3MW wind turbine made by German turbine manufacturer Nordex. Germany has promoted wind energy aggressively in recent years and German wind turbine companies are experiencing a worldwide boom in demand
Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Beached at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, colossal turbine blades await installation at the Robin Rigg off-shore windfarm in the Solway Firth, on the border of England and Scotland. The farm will produce 180MW of electricity, enough to power 117,000 homes
Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Looking rather eerie in the half-light, these are wind turbine blades produced by Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S – the world's biggest maker of turbines. Vestas plans to almost double its capacity to produce equipment for India, where incentives are now offered for renewable energy
Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images

A couple silhouetted beneath a turbine in Liverpool, England
Photograph: Anthony West/Corbis

The finishing touches are applied to a micro turbine produced by Renewable Devices Swift Turbine in Edinburgh, Scotland
Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

A new concept for wind turbines – the Offshore Aerogenerator NOVA (Novel Offshore Vertical Axis). Nova intends to have 1GW of these off-shore vertical axis turbines installed off the UK by 2020
Photograph: Grimshaw Architects