Insight

How this career could put you at the forefront of fighting climate change

Young people are being encouraged to pursue a career "at the forefront of fighting climate change", as the offshore wind industry grows exponentially in the Calendar region.

Across the so-called "Humber Cluster" the number of jobs is expected to grow from 1,700 to 10,000 by 2026. Industry-wide, this figure looks more like 69,000.

The company has a huge presence in Grimsby, where they operate the world's biggest offshore wind farm Hornsea One.

With 174 turbines, it generates 1.2 gigawatts of electricity - enough to power more than a million homes; the equivalent of Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Lincoln, Doncaster, Bradford and York combined.

This will soon be joined by Hornsea Two, and later Hornsea Three. Together, 570 turbines will generate enough electricity to power five million homes - or a sixth of the entire population.

However, Melanie Onn from RenewableUK says they need more than just money to achieve the government's ambitions of quadrupling offshore wind by the end of the decade.

Here's what the Hornsea wind farm will look like once completed.

Another of its farms is Westermost Rough, which sits just five miles off the Holderness Coast in East Yorkshire. It houses 35 turbines, which generate enough electricity to power 190,000 homes.

Those on the frontline there are keen for others to benefit from what the job has to offer.

Current apprentices explain what they like most about their jobs.

Despite currently being a male-dominated industry, the message is that there is plenty of room for more women to join their ranks.

In May last year, Dr Anne Velenturf from the University of Leeds gave evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee on the challenges and opportunities presented by offshore wind. While she accepts the opportunities are potentially vast, she says it is not the silver bullet to solving the climate crisis.

"I don't think that the priorities are wrong," she said. "We definitely need to switch over to low carbon energy supplies while we are moving away form using fossil fuels, but we also need to make efficiency improvements so that we can reduce demand at the same time as well."

Ever wondered what the view's like from the top of a wind turbine? We sent our reporter Michael Billington to find out...