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 Photograph: guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Christopher Furlong/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Mark Coote/guardian.co.uk Turbines line this snowy, almost unreal landscape in the mountains of Lugo in north-west Spain Photograph: Xulio Villarino/Getty Images Photograph: Xulio Villarino/guardian.co.uk Fehmarn Island in north Germany, where wind turbines accompany a traditional, agricultural landscape Photograph: Karl-Heinz Haenel/Corbis Photograph: Karl-Heinz Haenel/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: David McNew/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Sean Gallup/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/guardian.co.uk A couple silhouetted beneath a turbine in Liverpool, England Photograph: Anthony West/Corbis Photograph: Anthony West/guardian.co.uk The finishing touches are applied to a micro turbine produced by Renewable Devices Swift Turbine in Edinburgh, Scotland Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/guardian.co.uk 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 Photograph: guardian.co.uk