WORK starts today at Eaglesham Moor on Europe's biggest onshore wind farm.

It follows Scottish Executive approval for the plans for 140 turbines running along 30 miles of hilltops. They will be able to power 200,000 homes - the equivalent of more than half of Glasgow's energy needs.

ScottishPower says the project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 650,000 tonnes a year, equivalent to the output of around 240,000 cars. The company will also build a network of cycle paths and a visitor centre at the site.

The GBP300m Whitelee Wind Farm received about 40 objections, a much smaller number than for similar plans elsewhere in Scotland.

Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, will dig the first sod of ground to mark the start of the project. He said: "It will make a major contribution to our twin aims of securing energy supplies and tackling climate change.

"Scotland has long been the UK's powerhouse and is now establishing itself in the vanguard of renewables. Sixteen per cent of Scotland's electricity already comes from these sources, compared with 4-per cent for the UK as a whole."

Philip Bowman, ScottishPower's chief executive, said: "Whitelee is not the end of the story. If we are to deliver more clean energy, we have really got to keep up the momentum on the other big onshore wind farms in Scotland which are currently in planning."

Other windfarms in the pipeline include a "renewable energy park"with 42 wind turbines near Neilston, East Renfrewshire, by Gamesa Energia, the Spanish energy company.

Another, with 125 turbines, is proposed for Clyde Muirshiel Country Park. Others are earmarked in the Old Kilpatrick Hills, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.

The government will also today begin seeking views on how to achieve 2-per cent of electricity from renewables by 2020, as set out in the Energy Review.