The Scottish Government has published research on 'The Economic Impacts of Wind Farms on Scottish Tourism'.

Glasgow Caledonian University was commissioned in June 2007 to assess whether Government priorities for wind farms in Scotland are likely to have an economic impact - either positive or negative - on Scottish tourism. The objectives of the study were to:

• ·Discuss the experiences of other countries with similar characteristics.
• ·Quantify the size of any local or national impacts in terms of jobs and income.
• ·Inform tourism, renewables and planning policy.

The report offers practical guidance for assessing the likely impact of a proposed wind farm on tourism.

Any proposal to construct, extend or operate a wind farm with a generation capacity in excess of 50 Megawatt (MW) requires the consent of Scottish Ministers under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Proposals under 50 MW are dealt with by councils under planning legislation.

The Scottish Government's targets are to generate 50 per cent of Scotland's electricity demand from renewables by 2020, and grow tourism revenues by 50 per cent in the ten years to 2015.

The research is available on the Scottish Government's website.