www.windaction.orgfacts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impactsWindactionhttp://www.windaction.org/articles/c52+112?theme=atomXarayar2006-06-12T02:16:27Z Wind power in Germany
By the end of 2005, Germany's installed capacity of wind energy connected to the grid represented 18,300MW. The control area for transmission operator E.ON Netz GmbH included close to 7,600MW or 41% of the total installed. According to E.ON Netz's report entitled Data and Facts Relating to Wind Power in Germany (see: http://www.windaction.org/documents/11871), wind availability for 2005 was below average. This helps explain why the average wind power feed-in within E.ON's control area for that year was only 1327 MW, or 18%. The lowest feed-in for 2005 was 8MW (0.1% capacity) and occurred just after noon on May 5, 2005.
In its 2005 Wind Report (see: http://www.windaction.org/documents/461) E.ON Netz stated that as wind power capacity increased, the corresponding contribution of wind power to guaranteed capacity on the grid will fall continuously to around 4% by the year 2020. Said another way, if Germany achieves its forecast of 48,000 MW of wind by 2020, a mere 2000MW of traditional generation (coal, gas, nuclear) will be replaced by wind turbines. Given wind's fickle, unpredictable nature and the lack of viable large-scale energy storage technology, wind power will not negate the need to build more reliable power generation.
Renewable or nuclear energy? That's just one question .229062009-08-30T12:54:38Z2009-08-30T12:54:38ZWhen it comes to the biggest decision facing CPS - how to meet the energy shortage looming in the next decade or so - utility officials are adamant that renewable resources like solar and wind are not yet ready to shoulder the lion's share of the load.
The proposed solution instead is to add two nuclear reactors to the South Texas Project. Utility officials insist the proposed $5.2 billion investment is cheaper and more reliable than solar or wind.
The situation has the local anti-nuclear coalition Energia Mia and statewide renewable energy proponents outraged.
Wind energy growth might be 'canceled'.223182009-07-23T11:15:52Z2009-07-23T11:15:52ZOne thing could slow down or halt the development of wind farms in Indiana, and it's not community opposition, government regulation, shortage of wind or lack of interest by developers.
Getting the electricity generated by the wind to actual customers is shaping up as the biggest obstacle, experts said at the second annual WIndiana conference this week.
EPA may have suppressed report skeptical of global warming.218062009-06-26T21:18:07Z2009-06-26T21:18:07ZThe Environmental Protection Agency may have suppressed an internal report that was skeptical of claims about global warming, including whether carbon dioxide must be strictly regulated by the federal government, according to a series of newly disclosed e-mail messages. ...The EPA official, Al McGartland, said in an e-mail message to a staff researcher on March 17: "The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward... and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision." Lobbyists prove influential in RI energy debate .216582009-06-20T13:37:59Z2009-06-20T13:37:59ZAs Rhode Island moves to expand its renewable energy market, lobbyists at the Statehouse are finding the debate provides a different form of green power: cash.
At least $400,000 has been spent so far this year by corporations with a stake as lawmakers hash out agreements worth big money to power developers, energy suppliers and labor unions hurting for jobs.
Solar finds it hard to squeeze water from desert.207902009-04-18T08:57:52Z2009-04-18T08:57:52ZA westward dash to power electricity-hungry cities by cashing in on the desert's most abundant resource - sunshine - is clashing with efforts to protect the tiny pupfish and desert tortoise and stinginess over the region's rarest resource: water. ..."It is not in the public interest for BLM to approve plans of development for water-cooled solar energy projects in the arid basins of southern Nevada, some of which are already over-appropriated," Jon Jarvis, director of the Park Service's Pacific West Region, wrote to the BLM director in Nevada.
Turbines will soon churn in 11 cities.204042009-03-21T06:28:57Z2009-03-21T06:28:57ZRecycled turbines that turn renewable wind energy into electricity are expected to begin appearing this summer in Anoka, Buffalo, North St. Paul and eight other Minnesota cities that are part of a power agency. ...Anoka Mayor Phil Rice expects the windmill will go up, but calls it a taxpayer-subsidized waste of money that will never cover the windmill costs.
"In my mind it is foolishness," Rice said. "The government is mandating it, and we will comply so we don't have to pay a fine."
Clean energy sector beats hasty retreat .200122009-02-16T00:31:17Z2009-02-16T00:31:17ZGreen companies are in retreat, with a wave of staff layoffs and production cuts that could have dire consequences for governments' efforts to fight climate change by quickly bringing low-carbon power projects on stream.
Siemens, Clipper Windpower and even BP are among the big names that say they are reacting to a slowdown in the clean energy sector, which had hitherto seen massive growth.
McGuinty vows to stop wind-farm NIMBYs.199232009-02-11T12:18:30Z2009-02-11T12:18:30ZTaking a swipe at those who oppose wind turbines off the Scarborough Bluffs, Premier Dalton McGuinty is signalling he won't hesitate to foist "green" energy projects on communities across Ontario.
Only safety and environmental concerns will be legitimate objections to biofuel plants, solar panel fields and wind turbines under a green energy act to be proposed this month, the premier said yesterday in a speech on the economy.
Wind turbines in Europe do nothing for emissions-reduction goals.199342009-02-10T16:32:34Z2009-02-10T16:32:34ZDespite Europe's boom in solar and wind energy, CO2 emissions haven't been reduced by even a single gram. Now, even the Green Party is taking a new look at the issue -- as shown in e-mails obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE. ...The climate hasn't in fact profited from these developments. As astonishing as it may sound, the new wind turbines and solar cells haven't prohibited the emission of even a single gram of CO2.
Even more surprising, the European Union's own climate change policies, touted as the most progressive in the world, are to blame. The EU-wide emissions trading system determines the total amount of CO2 that can be emitted by power companies and industries. And this amount doesn't change -- no matter how many wind turbines are erected.
Iowa's green energy policy struggle .197892009-01-30T15:42:35Z2009-01-30T15:42:35ZThe presence of prairie winds and rich soil makes Iowa literally fertile ground for developing alternative energy sources from wind turbines and biofuels.
But the landscape is also a reminder that achieving energy independence is a formidable challenge and making an agricultural economy green is not easy. ...Phil Wyse, a state representative for 22 years, believes Iowa and America need nuclear power.
"We need sources of power that are constant and don't rely on things like whether the wind's blowing or the sun's shining," he says.
Wind turbines planned for three miles off island.194722009-01-12T04:55:31Z2009-01-12T04:55:31ZThe state of Rhode Island signed a joint development agreement with Deepwater Wind Thursday that could lead to the placement of four to eight wind turbines three miles off the southeastern coast of Block Island as early as 2010.
The legally binding agreement envisions the wind farm providing 20 megawatts of power with a tie-in to the island.
Wind power targets face high hurdles; State subsidy sought for offshore turbines.194412009-01-11T16:37:43Z2009-01-11T16:37:43ZGov. Jon S. Corzine wants New Jersey to become the offshore wind power capital of the U.S., but an array of financial, environmental and other hurdles lies in his path. ...Several environmental activists say Corzine's 2012 target may be unrealistic.Winds of change come to country plagued by power blackouts.193272008-12-30T06:56:21Z2008-12-30T06:56:21ZHe says that by 2020, the US, Europe, China and India will want to have 20% of their power supply from renewables. The issue is about making wind power "cost competitive" with carbon sources, especially coal, which fuels 65% of India's electricity and costs at least a quarter less. "Today wind power is just 1% of supply. It can grow to 7% by 2020. That is the maximum because industry has to find resources, material and execute projects. With greater volumes the price [of wind power] will drop ... and [governments] will ask what is the cost for pollution from carbon fuels. You will need a carbon tax. "Wind, water and biomass in Ohio's alternative energy future.193152008-12-28T15:32:32Z2008-12-28T15:32:32ZThe largest number of proposals for alternative energy in Ohio represent wind power followed by hydro and biomass, said Art Meyer, a DP&L senior vice president. Many are from out of state.
"Most of the proposals are still in the design or developmental phase," he said.
DP&L does not expect to forge an agreement for renewable power before 2011, but that won't stop new energy conservation initiatives starting in 2009.
Here's what the future looks like.
Wind farm proposals rile regional board directors.192792008-12-23T04:59:13Z2008-12-23T04:59:13ZThe provincial government needs to be more considerate when entertaining new uses for Crown land in the Central Okanagan.
That's the message the regional district board is delivering to the province's Integrated Land Management Bureau ...Case in point, the land bureau received an application for the installation of five, 60-metre meteorological towers in Lake Country's Beaver and Oyama Lakes watersheds, to test for wind energy.
Promoters overstated the environmental benefit of wind farms .192392008-12-20T05:08:02Z2008-12-20T05:08:02ZThe British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) has agreed to scale down its calculation for the amount of harmful carbon dioxide emission that can be eliminated by using wind turbines to generate electricity instead of burning fossil fuels such as coal or gas.
The move is a serious setback for the advocates of wind power ...A wind farm industry source admitted: "It's not ideal for us. It's the result of pressure by the anti-wind farm lobby."
Turbulent time for wind development in NY.189322008-11-23T03:17:37Z2008-11-23T03:17:37ZWind development in New York has hit a bit of turbulence.
The nationwide financial crisis has put the brakes on a wind farm under construction in northern New York and another developer has aborted possible projects in eastern and central New York after trouble securing land. And wind energy companies are now being asked to abide by a code of ethics by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.SAMP feared as threat to fishing .188042008-11-15T14:31:36Z2008-11-15T14:31:36ZAs the state moves forward with the creation of zoning regulations for Rhode Island's coastal waters, commercial fishermen are worried their interests will not be adequately represented when key decisions are made about where they can fish. ...The fishermen, for their part, say they are supportive of efforts to develop renewable energy and are not looking to derail the SAMP project. "We can absolutely live together," said Wallis. "We just want to have a good say in that."
