Some 87% of Italians are in favour of more wind energy in their country, new research unveiled on Global Wind Day at an event in the Villa Borghese in Rome showed. Economic development and job creation were among the top reasons cited for their positivity.

“At Global Wind Day we want to reiterate the importance of renewable energies as one of the key solutions to the economic and climate crisis,” Edoardo Zanchini from Legambiente, an Italian environment group, said.

In another piece of good news for Italian-produced wind power, Simone Togni, Secretary General of the Italian Wind Energy Association, announced to an audience gathered for Global Wind Day in Rome that by 2011, wind energy will provide electricity to 10 million Italians.

By 2020, wind energy will meet 7% of Italy’s energy needs, saving 19,250,460 tonnes of CO2 a year and 37,770,559 barrels of oil, he estimated.

During the first half of 2010, the sector employed 1,000 more people compared to the previous year, bringing the total number of jobs in wind energy in Italy to 25,530 – a growth that continues despite the economic crisis, ANEV said at the event.

”This is the outcome of many years of hard work and the recognition of an energy that moved from being marginal to being a mass producer of electricity,” Oreste Vigorito, ANEV President, said.

From bike tours through wind farms to a kite-surfing contest, Global Wind Day attracted attention across the whole of Italy.