France officially joined the offshore wind power sector on Tuesday with an announcement by President Nicolas Sarkozy that the government would initially invest more than €10 billion on sea-based wind farms off northern France.

About 10,000 jobs will be created in the French offshore wind energy sector, Sarkozy said, adding the first 600 wind turbines are to be installed in five areas off Normandy, Brittany and Loire-Atlantique.

“Our aim is to have an outstanding national sector emerge to build the means to produce these offshore wind turbines and to look towards exporting them,” Sarkozy was quoted as saying.

In a time of great unrest at British universities over tuition increases and programme cutbacks, it’s gratifying to note that at least one respected post-secondary institution is turning to wind power to lessen its carbon footprint.

According to its website, the University of Nottingham has recently unveiled plans for three wind turbines near Clifton Bridge on the River Trent which, if approved, would supply green electricity directly to its University Park campus.

The turbines, which would meet one-third of the electricity needs of the campus, could reduce the university’s carbon emissions by 7,000 tonnes per year, equating to 40% of the reductions target it has set itself by 2015.

If you’ve ever asked yourself, or want to show someone else, how a wind turbine works, check out EWEA’s easy-to-use interactive tool.

It allows you to play with the three main variables that determine how much electricity a wind turbine can produce:

The wind speed: Stronger winds produce more energy. Wind turbines generate energy at wind speeds starting from 4 metres per second (a gentle breeze) up to speeds of 30 metres per second (a violent storm). Over 30 metres per second (which happens rarely), the turbine is stopped from turning.

Some 87% of Italians are in favour of more wind energy in their country, new research unveiled on Global Wind Day at an event in the Villa Borghese in Rome showed. Economic development and job creation were among the top reasons cited for their positivity.

“At Global Wind Day we want to reiterate the importance of renewable energies as one of the key solutions to the economic and climate crisis,” Edoardo Zanchini from Legambiente, an Italian environment group, said.

In another piece of good news for Italian-produced wind power, Simone Togni, Secretary General of the Italian Wind Energy Association, announced to an audience gathered for Global Wind Day in Rome that by 2011, wind energy will provide electricity to 10 million Italians.

By 2020, wind energy will meet 7% of Italy’s energy needs, saving 19,250,460 tonnes of CO2 a year and 37,770,559 barrels of oil, he estimated.

During the first half of 2010, the sector employed 1,000 more people compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of jobs in wind energy in Italy to 25,530 – a growth that continues despite the economic crisis, ANEV said at the event.

”This is the outcome of many years of hard work and the recognition of an energy that moved from being marginal to being a mass producer of electricity,” Oreste Vigorito, ANEV President, said.

From bike tours through wind farms to a kite-surfing contest, Global Wind Day attracted attention across the whole of Italy.

EWEA’s campaign to support the development of wind energy across Europe reached a new high this week: over 1,000 turbines have now been adopted by citizens across Europe.

Campaign leader, Elke Zander, was at the European Maritime days event in Gijon, Northern Spain last week where her campaign received a positive welcome. “It is very encouraging to see people are interested to learn about our campaign and are keen to adopt turbines to support it,” she said.

Spain is also still the winner when it comes to the total number of turbines adopted, with 188 turbines already claimed, but Global Wind Day – the next big event – could well change that.

Zander is now looking forward to Global Wind Day on 15 June, designed to spread the message about the benefits of wind energy all over the world. Events will take place throughout the globe and EWEA is certain to make a big splash in Brussels by putting up a wind turbine blade on Rond Point Schuman from 1-15 June.

To adopt a turbine and find out more about the campaign, click here.
To find out what’s going on near you for Global Wind Day, click here.