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/18045 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:21:52 GMT The infrastructure necessary to move the energy from the wind facility to the grid is substantial, especially for rural areas. Most residents in the community do not comprehend the scale of the supporting structures needed for the project, separate from the turbines. http://www.windaction.org/articles/18045 http://www.windaction.org/articles/12368 Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:19:44 GMT A flock of ducks flies in front of a wind turbine in a field near Port Bruce, Ont., on the Lake Erie north shore. http://www.windaction.org/articles/12368 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23030 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:10:41 GMT A proposal to put 15 wind turbines as close as one kilometre offshore in Lake Erie should require an environmental assessment, Gord Meuser, a spokesman for the group Citizens Against Lake Erie Wind Turbines, said Friday. SouthPoint Wind has completed its environmental screening report but Meuser said the group will be asking that it be bumped up to an environmental assessment with more studies specifically on Lake Erie. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23030 http://www.windaction.org/articles/22772 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:32:28 GMT I wish I could write this story as a travel brochure for this gorgeous North American gem, but if the proposed prop-style wind farm is built here, right in the midst of migratory flyways and breeding grounds, there will be no reason to bring your birding glasses. Or your crab traps. ...Despite industry propaganda, bird mortality from such farms is alarmingly high, and worse, due to the placement of the farms, many of the casualties are endangered or protected species like Golden eagles. http://www.windaction.org/articles/22772 http://www.windaction.org/articles/22674 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:42:34 GMT Long Point Waterfowl is worried that the McGuinty government is flying blind when it comes to the development of wind power. The waterfowl study group has set aside $300,000 for a two-year probe of wind turbines and their potential impact on waterfowl in the lower Great Lakes. Long Point Waterfowl is undertaking the research to address gaps in its understanding. http://www.windaction.org/articles/22674 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21781 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:23:28 GMT Plans to build a wind turbine park for Digby Neck hit a snag this month when Nova Scotia's deputy minister of environment told an executive at Skypower Corp. in a letter that more information about the project is needed before an environmental assessment application is approved. Skypower Corp. of Toronto and Scotian Windfields of Dartmouth have jointly proposed a 30-megawatt wind farm on Digby Neck comprised of 20 wind turbines, each generating 1.5 megawatts of electricity. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21781 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21704 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:42:12 GMT Nova Scotia's Deputy Minister of Environment has issued a decision on the Digby Wind Power Project's Environmental Assessment Report that appears to leave the project twisting in the wind. ...In a June 19 letter addressed to SkyPower Corporation VP Charmaine Thompson, Deputy Minister of Environment Nancy Vanstone states quite simply, "I have determined that the registration information provided is insufficient to allow me to make a decision." http://www.windaction.org/articles/21704 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20802 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:36:21 GMT Town administration is expected to provide more information to council in coming weeks about the proposed South Side Wind Farm and members of council are joining members of the Advisory Committee on the Environment (ACE) with questions of their own. Councillor Bob Pillon brought up the issue of potential health impacts ..."We need answers," said Pillon. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20802 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20719 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:30:21 GMT The noise and vibration from heavy equipment has been known to frighten emus to death, Debi VanTassel said in a recent interview. She wonders what living near a wind turbine will be like. Ms. VanTassel has another worry, though. Her husband is an epileptic who may have grand mal seizures. They can't have wallpaper in their home because the patterns could seem to come alive and bother Mr. VanTassel. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20719 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20296 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:12:11 GMT The 500 ducks that died in the Alberta oilsands pale in comparison to the thousands of birds killed by cats or by crashing into Toronto office towers or flying into windmills, says Conservative MP Brian Jean. ...At the committee, he questioned federal officials about "how do you balance" 500 ducks who died in an oilsands tailings pond with 6,000 killed annually on Toronto skyscrapers and 200,000 caught in wind turbines. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20296 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19732 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:40:27 GMT The company building the wind plant on Wolfe Island has withdrawn an appeal it had launched to avoid being held responsible for a diesel spill that occurred last fall. Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. had appealed to the Environmental Review Tribunal, an independent provincial agency, after failing to comply with a director's order the Ministry of the Environment issued as a result of the spill. The firm launched the appeal in an effort to have its name removed from the order. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19732 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19449 Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:51:07 GMT New research shows that the study of bat mortality at wind turbines should be the primary ecological concern for developers. ...TransAlta has about 189 MW of wind farms operating in southern Alberta and another 162 MW under construction. By analyzing specimens found on one of TransAlta's farms, Robert Barclay, a biological sciences professor at the university, discovered that the vast majority of bats died not as a result of colliding into the turbines, but as a result of a sudden drop in air pressure in the airspace around the turbines - which destroys their lungs. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19449 http://www.windaction.org/articles/18583 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:58:31 GMT Imagine sections of the Great Lakes dotted with rows of gleaming, 12-storey turbines, blades whirring in the stiff breeze as they generate electricity for homes and businesses onshore. It's only an idea -- for now. But U. S. government regulators are bracing for an expected wave of proposals for offshore power generation ...Despite its allure as a plentiful source of clean energy, they say, offshore wind power could affect the aquatic environment and commerce. http://www.windaction.org/articles/18583 http://www.windaction.org/articles/18106 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:55:12 GMT Bats and wind turbines make a bad mix. In fact, bats have become an unexpected casualty in the burgeoning wind-power industry, with several thousand bats killed by turbines each year in North America. Now studies are being conducted at the future site of a Peace region wind farm in order to save bats from dropping dead near the whirling blades. ...Most of the wind-farm research has been focused on birds, and little is known about the effect on bats, although new studies are beginning to yield clues on how to minimize the impact of the wind farms on the tiny flying animals. http://www.windaction.org/articles/18106 http://www.windaction.org/articles/18078 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:59:54 GMT Bats may never find wind farms as friendly as belfries, but a three-month study in northeast British Columbia is designed to make the power-generating turbines at least somewhat less deadly. Monitoring devices installed by AltaGas at the site of the proposed Bear Mountain Wind Farm have been recording data on the population and migratory routes of bats in the area since July. In later stages of development, the research is intended to help how the company can make its turbines to more bat-friendly. http://www.windaction.org/articles/18078 http://www.windaction.org/articles/18088 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:39:08 GMT Wind power could be the central plank of a new provincial plan to make B.C. energy self-sufficient by 2016. But critics cited environmental and land-use concerns during a forum at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention today. http://www.windaction.org/articles/18088 http://www.windaction.org/articles/17751 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:29:07 GMT Baerwald, whose team checks for carcasses under turbines at the Summerview wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., every morning, says bats are one of the unforeseen casualties in the rush to harness wind power. Several thousand of the tiny flying mammals are killed by the turbines each year across North America, with some farms much more deadly than others. Industry officials say they are determined to reduce the death toll but concede it is not going to be easy since so little is known about the nocturnal creatures. ...The researchers dissected 75 corpses and report that 90 per cent died form internal hemorrhaging consistent with "barotrauma," tissue damage caused by rapid or excessive change in air pressure near the rotor blades. http://www.windaction.org/articles/17751 http://www.windaction.org/articles/17630 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:35:23 GMT Bats are dying as they fly into low-pressure zones around wind turbines. The sudden low pressure causes the air in their lungs to expand and cause tissue damage, called barotrauma. Low-pressure area: most severe immediately out from the blades and decreases as it gets closer to the centre of the turbine. There is also a low-pressure area down the shaft. http://www.windaction.org/articles/17630 http://www.windaction.org/articles/17624 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:22:26 GMT Sudden air pressure changes around wind turbines is likely behind the large numbers of migratory bats found dead in southern Alberta, according to a new University of Calgary study. The two-year study found 90 per cent of the studied bats found dead below turbines near Pincher Creek suffered severe injuries to their respiratory systems consistent with a sudden drop in air pressure that occurs near the turbine blades. http://www.windaction.org/articles/17624 http://www.windaction.org/articles/17626 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:32:06 GMT Canadian researchers have found wind turbines can kill bats without them actually flying into the blades. ..."An atmospheric drop in pressure at wind-turbine blades is an undetectable - and potentially unforeseeable - hazard for bats, thus partially explaining the large number of bat fatalities at these specific structures," said Baerwald. http://www.windaction.org/articles/17626