The annual wind market report is an important document for those tracking trends in the U.S. wind industry. The report provides information on wind energy's performance and cost in key regions of the country and explains economic and social forces impacting industry growth.

Unprecedented numbers of migratory bats are found dead beneath industrial-scale wind turbines during late summer and autumn in both North America and Europe. This paper by Paul Cryan discusses how conservation laws are inadequate for protecting bats.

The Hamilton Project examines the cost of energy by fuel type.

Wind power has the potential to reduce emissions associated with conventional electricity generation. Using detailed, systemic hourly data of wind generation and emissions from plants in ERCOT (Texas), CAISO (California), and MISO (Upper Midwest), we estimate the SO2, NOx and CO2 emissions offset by wind generation in those territories. Our estimation strategy implicitly captures both the marginal unit of generation displaced by wind on the electrical grid, and the marginal emissions reduction from that displaced unit. Our results reveal substantial variation in emissions reduction by territory, which appear to be strongly driven by differences in the existing generation mix. While the environmental benefits from emissions reductions in the Upper Midwest roughly cover government subsidies for wind generation, environmental benefits in Texas and California fall short. Finally, we provide back-of-the-envelope calculations for the average national reductions in emissions per megawatt-hour of wind energy.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) and the increased development of wind-power facilities are threatening populations of insectivorous bats in North America. This important paper presents analyses suggesting that loss of bats in North America could lead to agricultural losses estimated at more than $3.7 billion/year. An excerpt of the paper is provided below. The full paper can be downloaded by clicking on the link(s) below.

This important document examines the possible impact of turbine noise on wildlife. The entire report, with references, can be downloaded by clicking on the link(s) at the bottom of this page.

Jonathan Lesser explores how high-cost subsidized renewable resources risk destroying jobs and hurting consumers.

Energy expert Glenn Schleede details key flaws found in the Jobs and Economic Development Impact model (JEDI) used by the DOE's National Renewable Energy "Laboratory" (NREL) to the forecast economic benefits of wind energy development.

Save Western Maryland, the Maryland Conservation Council, Ajax Eastman, and L. Daniel Boone filed a formal complaint in US District Court claiming Constellation Energy violated the endangered species act for failing to seek and obtain an incidental take permit in reference to the Constallation wind project located on Backbone Mountain in Garrett County, Maryland. The full complaint can be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

This paper explains how wind turbines located near radar installations can significantly interfere with a radar’s ability to detect its intended targets. The authors explain software tools capable of calculating the radar cross section of electrically large objects. In this paper, interference from wind turbines is predicted using XGtd simulations and new post-processing algorithms that calculate Doppler shift quantities based on points of interaction with the rotating turbine blades.