It will take almost 4,700 years for England to build enough onshore wind farms to meet the UK’s clean energy needs.
The Institute for Public Policy Research said just 17 small-scale onshore wind farms had been approved in England since 2015, when the government changed planning laws to create a de facto ban.
Luke Murphy, an associate director at the IPPR, said the ban meant England needs as long as from now to “the start of construction of Stonehenge in 2,500 BC” to build enough.
The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, had promised to remove the block on new onshore wind farms six months ago, but the government has yet to ease the planning restrictions faced by renewable energy developers.
