http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/5825 Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:37:18 GMT Courtesy photo A view from the air of the completed Spearville wind farm and its 67 turbines includes Main Street and St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in the foreground. http://www.windaction.org/articles/5825 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4876 Tue, 05 Sep 2006 15:09:45 GMT A wind-collecting unit, above, stands more than 60 feet tall outside Blairsburg, Iowa, where one of the largest wind power experiments in the U.S. dots the landscape. http://www.windaction.org/articles/4876 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4255 Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:16:55 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/4255 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4254 Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:15:32 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/4254 http://www.windaction.org/articles/4008 Wed, 19 Jul 2006 11:28:25 GMT A crane gets ready to place the third section on a wind tower at the site of the Spearville Wind Energy Facility, which will have 67 towers and generate 100.5 megawatts of power when completed in October. By http://www.windaction.org/articles/4008 http://www.windaction.org/articles/2111 Sun, 19 Mar 2006 13:52:08 GMT Wind turbines in Gray County are silhouetted against the setting sun in this 2004 file photo. The turbines shut down automatically when wind gusts are up to about 56 mph. http://www.windaction.org/articles/2111 http://www.windaction.org/articles/24206 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:13:28 GMT The one piece of business discussed by the commission came from Commissioner Keith Campbell. Mr. Campbell proposed that the commission adopt a bylaw which said that when considering board business, if a commissioner "anticipated the opportunity" to personally benefit by the action of the board in the value of $1000 or more, that commissioner should publicly state that. ...Because of the avowed interest of some current and past members of the zoning commission in securing personal contracts with corporations seeking to put wind energy conversion systems in Ellis County, some members of the public were interested in greater transparency in the operation of the zoning board. http://www.windaction.org/articles/24206 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23878 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:12:49 GMT In a case pitting the beauty of the Flint Hills against large wind farms, the Flint Hills won. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday in favor of a zoning ordinance in Wabaunsee County that prohibits commercial wind farms. Poised as the third best state in the country for wind power and on the cusp of a renewable energy revolution, Kansas has the potential to be at the epicenter of the wind industry. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23878 http://www.windaction.org/articles/22240 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:21:46 GMT How about this for a new state slogan: Kansas, not as windy as you think? A study of long-term wind speed trends suggests just that - winds across the United States, in Kansas and a few other states in particular, have been steadily decreasing since 1973. The study, to be published in August in the Journal of Geophysical Research, is the first of its kind in the U.S. Using data from wind monitors, the study found that winds had slowed across the U.S. by about 10 percent over 30 years. http://www.windaction.org/articles/22240 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21657 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:04:24 GMT Details about how much local government money could flow to the proposed Siemens Wind Power plant in Hutchinson have not fully emerged. And that could amount to a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. ...However, the contract between Siemens and the participating parties - to include Reno County and the cities of Hutchinson and South Hutchinson - continues to be finalized in secret. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21657 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21540 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:52:45 GMT Wind power is booming -- at the moment. Companies are flocking to build turbine and blade plants in the United States, such as the one Siemens will build in Hutchinson. The amount of energy harvested from wind rose 50 percent last year to 25,300 megawatts. For the people in the ethanol industry, it must sound sadly like deja vu. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21540 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21552 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:27:46 GMT There's been a major shift in the direction of Hutchinson's Sunflower Wind, but company officials say production at the wind turbine manufacturing plant is still on the horizon. Rather than the planned 2.5-megawatt turbines with 180-foot-long blades, the company is working to produce 100-kilowatt wind turbines that require only low wind speeds to power small commercial buildings, schools, hospitals or industrial plants. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21552 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21229 Fri, 15 May 2009 21:24:22 GMT The message Thursday evening was loud and clear: Adjustments need to be made to the location of a proposed power line stretching from Spearville to Hays. The reasons for moving the lines varied, however, from aesthetics to interfering with a proposed wind farm in central Rush County. It was just as clear that landowners don't consider a one-time, up-front lump payment for easements as fair. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21229 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21199 Wed, 13 May 2009 00:58:02 GMT Plaintiffs contacted by The Hays Daily News, however, say they have not signed the document, with at least one implying their intent is to do so. While some question has been posed as to whether the county commission should have made the document public before the other signatures were obtained, Davidson said it was within the county's rights to take action. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21199 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21179 Tue, 12 May 2009 01:00:13 GMT In a unanimous decision at Monday's meeting, Ellis County Commissioners endorsed terms of settlement in a lawsuit regarding a wind farm southwest of Hays. While commissioners said the settlement could bring closure to the hotly disputed wind farm controversy, lawsuit plaintiffs might not be so sure. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21179 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21155 Mon, 11 May 2009 18:53:16 GMT After years of discussion and a lengthy legal battle, it appears Ellis County soon could be home to a 200-megawatt wind farm. In a unanimous decision, the Ellis County Commission today approved a settlement in the case of Davis v. Ellis County regarding a proposed project southwest of Hays. The agreement holds that the conditional-use permit commissioners granted for the project is lawful and enforceable, meaning the wind farm could proceed. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21155 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21129 Fri, 08 May 2009 12:17:22 GMT A high-voltage power line unlike any seen this side of the Mississippi River soon could be striding across southwestern Kansas. Cable bundles as thick as pickup tires and bearing 765,000 volts would bind the ever-more-productive wind fields of Kansas to outside markets. The project, estimated to be worth up to $800 million, is still up for grabs between two competing groups that could get the lines up and humming by 2013. ...Nearly 1,012 megawatts from wind turbines will be available by the end of 2009, but 7,000 megawatts are proposed for western Kansas by 2030. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21129 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21062 Tue, 05 May 2009 20:55:39 GMT An energy company hoping to establish a wind farm in Pratt County will have to keep its 400-foot towers about three and a half miles from approaches to the Pratt Industrial Airport, but that news should come as no surprise to Indeck Energy Services. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21062 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20867 Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:16:32 GMT Much of the discussion at a wind energy forum Tuesday night at Fort Hays State University revolved around the same arguments both proponents and opponents of the alternative energy in Ellis County have maintained all along. The one thing the forum's three panelists could agree on was that reducing energy consumption is needed. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20867 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20823 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:37:24 GMT Nikki Schwerdfeger won't believe it until she sees the blades spinning. The Hamilton County landowner remains cautiously optimistic about the proposed 135-megawatt wind farm about to be developed near her rural Coolidge home. One of the landowners who signed a lease for erecting wind turbines on their property, she has yet to learn if any of the around 90, 262-foot-tall turbines will spin on her land. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20823