More than thirty speakers from Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Britain, and the United States presented at an international industrial wind conference entitled, The Landscape Under Attack, held on March 27, 28 in Palermo, Italy. Speakers at the conference confirmed that thousands of massive wind turbines are planned for Italy. In response, leaders in Sicily, Rome, Tuscany, and Calabria met with energy experts throughout Europe and the United States to exchange ideas and agree on principles for protecting both the landscape and the consumer. The conference concluded with the Charter of Palermo, a statement of purpose, which called for an immediate moratorium on wind development, a thorough examination of its costs and benefits, and protection in perpetuity for the landscape's cultural heritage.

US President Barack Obama defends his energy subsidy package to invest billions into alternative energy generation by citing examples from Spain, Germany, and Japan. He has pointed to the renewables industry as a way to create new and sustainable jobs during a period of economic downturn. But this recent report prepared by Dr. Gabriel Calzada, an economics professor at Juan Carlos University in Madrid, shows that for Spain the “green employment opportunity” has proven elusive and unsustainable. The executive summary of Dr. Calzada’s report is posted below. The full report can be accessed by selecting one of the links at the bottom of this page.

For two decades, the capacity factor of wind power measuring the mean energy delivered by wind turbines has been assumed at 35% of the name plate capacity. Yet, the mean realized value for Europe over the last five years is closer to 21% thus making levelized cost 66% higher than previously thought. We document this discrepancy and offer rationalizations, emphasizing the long term variations of wind speeds. We conclude with the consequences of the capacity factor miscalculation and some policy recommendations. Click on the link below to download the full document.

This document authored by Acoustic Ecology Institute provides a comprehensive overview of noise issues pertaining to utility-scale wind energy development. This AEI Special Report will be continually updated, incorporating new research, more recent reports, and suggestions/comments from readers. Planned topics to be added over time include: effects of noise on wildlife and habitat, offshore wind energy, and the health effects of chronic noise exposure.

In this letter to residents of Burke, NY, Dr. Nina Pierpont briefly discusses her findings of health impacts on families living in proximity to industrial-scale wind turbines.

This 12-month diary (January 2007 through December 2007) was compiled by Gail Mair. Mrs. Mair lives with her husband Walter in Tuscany, Italy. Gail (fluent in English, German, and Italian) and Walter (a native of Italy) bought this piece of property some years ago and, in October 2006, moved into the (modest) dream house they had just built. It was to be their retirement home. As construction on their new home was coming to an end, wind developer, Gamesa, was completing construction on its windfarm nearby. In November 2006, the turbines were turned on and the problems of noise were started -- Day after day, relentless, unending. Gail and Walter have asked that their diary be circulated widely, in the hope of saving other communities and individuals from the misery they are living through.

This important collaborative document describes the current research on wind energy and the assessment of impacts on nocturnally active birds and bats.

This paper on Infrasound and Low Frequency Noise Dose Responses, was presented at the Inter-Noise 2007 conference held in Istanbul, Turkey August 28-31, 2007. The authors are Mariana Alves-Pereira and Nuno A. A. Castelo Branco of the Erisa-Universidade Lusofona, Lisbon, Portugal and the Center of Human Performance, Alverca, Portugal.

This paper on Infrasound and Low Frequency Noise Dose responses, was presented at the Inter-Noise 2007 conference held in Istanbul, Turkey August 28-31, 2007. The authors are Mariana Alves-Pereira and Nuno A. A. Castelo Branco of the Erisa-Universidade Lusofona, Lisbon, Portugal and the Center of Human Performance, Alverca, Portugal.

The Research Institute for Nature and Forest currently performs a long-term project to study the impact of land-based wind turbines on birds (nature) and to act as a consultancy for proposed wind farms in Flanders. The project started in 2000, under the authority of the Flemish government. Preliminary study results of the monitoring were presented in Everaert et al. (2002), Everaert (2003), Everaert & Stienen (2006) and Everaert (2006 a, b). A ‘Bird 2 Atlas’ with important bird areas and migration routes in Flanders was also made available (Everaert et al. 2003). In 2007, a comprehensive report will be published with the monitoring results from 2002-2006 and further recommendations (Everaert 2007). A new article for a scientific journal will follow. Also advice on the establishment of off-shore windfarms has been prepared.