This response to the Dti’s consultation has been prepared by Hugh Sharman of Incoteco (Denmark) ApS, and The Renewable Energy Foundation, working in collaboration.

Hugh Sharman is an energy consultant, based in Denmark. Most of Incoteco’s work is done for and with large energy companies seeking innovative environmental solutions to practical problems. An example is its leading role in the formulation and development of the “CO2 for EOR in the North Sea” (CENS) project during 2001. During 2004, Incoteco (Denmark) ApS completed a wind-energy related study for the Danish Energy Agency that was also supported by a number of important Scandinavian energy companies. Its purpose was to find more effective uses for the large wind power surplus that is generated in West Denmark.

The Renewable Energy Foundation is a newly created foundation which has arisen from widespread and growing public concern that the current renewables energy policy is in itself unbalanced, and causing subsequent imbalances in the rest of the energy sector. REF encourages the development of renewable energy and energy conservation whilst safeguarding the landscapes of the United Kingdom from unsustainable industrialisation. In pursuit of this goal, REF highlights the need for an overall energy policy that is balanced, ecologically sensitive and effective.

Extracts from the attached promotional piece. The full report may be purchased from ABS.

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.

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

"Developers and owners of wind turbines have a duty to ensure the safety of the general public and their own staff. However, there are currently no guidelines for dealing with potential dangers arising from ice thrown off wind turbines. This puts developers, owners, planning authorities and insurers in a difficult position. To rectify this situation, the work presented here has commenced in order to produce an authoritative set of guidelines. Initial work has resulted in the development of a risk assessment methodology which has been used to demonstrate that the risk of being struck by ice thrown from a turbine is diminishingly small at distances greater than approximately 250 m from the turbine in a climate where moderate icing occurs."

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 compilation of scientific reports provides compelling evidence of significant bird mortality at windfarms. Its cumulative effect with other causes of bird deaths may bring many species to extinction - especially as captivity-bred specimens will be lacking turbine-free habitats where they can be released safely.

Issued on September 1, 1998 by The Initiative Group and signed by more than 100 German University professors, the Darmstadt Manifesto On the Exploitation of Wind Energy in Germany demands the withdrawal of all direct and indirect subsidies in order to put a stop to the exploitation of wind energy.

The manifesto claims that the exploitation of wind energy promotes the type of technology which is of no significance whatever for the purpose of supplying energy, saving resources and protecting the climate. The money could be put to far more effective use in increasing the efficiency of power stations, in ensuring effective energy consumption and in funding scientific research into fundamental principles in the field of energy.

The Darmstadt Manifesto is directed in particular at politicians, environmental organisations and the media.

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.