Meeting Britain's energy needs from onshore wind power would require covering literally the entire country in turbines, even assuming that the wind was guaranteed to blow.

ECONOMIST: What to do?

In the past, all technologies were subsidised equally, so most investment went into onshore wind, the cheapest source of renewable energy.

ECONOMIST: Renewable energy

However, he said the UK needed to move to cleaner energy and stressed there was an economic case for onshore wind.

BBC: Wind farm

Director of policy for Scottish Renewables Jenny Hogan said onshore wind was "absolutely key" to meeting Scotland's climate change and renewable energy targets.

BBC: Wind farm

The mid-range projection in the government's Renewable Energy Roadmap foresees up to around 13 gigawatts (GW) of UK onshore wind capacity by 2020.

BBC: Call for clarity on wind turbines

At the moment, responsibility for consents to energy projects such as wind farms and power stations is only devolved up to 50MW onshore and 100MW offshore.

BBC: Welsh devolution: UK government rejects radical change

The technology paper covers 10 technologies: bioenergy for electricity and heat, biofuels, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy, solar energy (PV, concentrating solar, and solar heating), and wind (onshore and offshore).

FORBES: International Energy Agency (Finally) Acknowledges Ascent of Renewable Energy Market