News
Public lukewarm to wind turbine plan for Lompoc hills
July 18, 2006 by Mark Abramson, Staff Writer in Santa Maria Times
July 18, 2006 by Mark Abramson, Staff Writer in Santa Maria Times
County planners presented the wind farm proposal to an audience that filled the Lompoc City Council chambers. The public's comments about the impact of the wind turbines on birds and how they might alter views will be incorporated into an environmental impact report (EIR).
Also filed under [
General|
California]
MAJOR power users in Victoria have questioned government claims that a new renewable energy target will add little to their electricity bills.
Public Service Board denies permit for East Haven wind farm
July 17, 2006 by Wilson Ring, Associated Press Writer in Boston Globe
July 17, 2006 by Wilson Ring, Associated Press Writer in Boston Globe
MONTPELIER, Vt. --A company's bid to build a wind farm atop a remote Northeast Kingdom mountain was rejected by the Public Service Board on Monday because of concerns about how the turbines would affect birds and bats.
Power plant could harness tidal energy of Narrows
July 17, 2006 by Les Blumenthal in The News Tribune
July 17, 2006 by Les Blumenthal in The News Tribune
WASHINGTON – The Tacoma Narrows holds “significant promise” as a site for one of the nation’s first projects to generate electricity by tapping the tides, according to a new report.
HECO spending $1 million on renewable energy campaign
July 17, 2006 by Janis L. Magin in Pacific Business News
July 17, 2006 by Janis L. Magin in Pacific Business News
Stung by opposition that killed a proposed wind farm in Leeward Oahu but under continuing pressure to create renewable sources of power, Hawaiian Electric Co. has launched a series of advertisements telling customers it's up to them to help wean the state from its dependence on oil.
Windfarm Disaster That Could Strike Scotland Too
July 17, 2006 by Iain Ramage in This is North Scotland
July 17, 2006 by Iain Ramage in This is North Scotland
The peat landslip in 2003 at Derrybrien saw a bog slide almost two miles down a hillside in County Galway - polluting waterways, killing 50,000 fish and engulfing a farmhouse.
SIOUX FALLS (AP) — Developers and officials hope that three wind farm projects in the works for South Dakota will go forward despite military officials’ concerns that turbines might interfere with radar.
The Central Otago District Council will oppose any move to have the resource consent application for a controversial wind farm on the Lammermoor Range dealt with by the Government, saying its consents panel can do a better job.....Dr Macpherson’s comments came after the Upland Landscape Protection Society, a lobby group opposing the Meridian wind farm and the similar Trustpower installation on the nearby Lammerlaw Range, said the consent applications for the two projects should be dealt with by the Government rather than local bodies.
JORDANVILLE — If nothing stalls the 130- to 150- megawatt Jordanville Wind Project — 75 wind turbines planned for the rural towns of Warren and Stark — they'll start going up next spring.
But winds of opinion have already started blowing in both directions in the two towns.
Some residents support the project for the financial gain on personal and town-wide levels. Others fear health problems or bad influences on scenery, history and culture.
Microgeneration moves to mainstream in Scotland
July 17, 2006 by Sam Bond in Environmental Data Interactive
July 17, 2006 by Sam Bond in Environmental Data Interactive
Micro-renewables are set to become a standard part of any new development north of the border if the Scottish Executive approves a new planning policy.
"Last night was a shocker," Nicolette Nye, a spokeswoman for Minerals Management, said Tuesday after the first night of hearings. She has conducted similar hearings on projects up and down the East Coast, she said, including on Cape Cod, where another controversial wind farm is proposed. But she said nothing had prepared her for Long Island. "People here are much more...passionate."
"I think for farm and residential use they can be appropriate in some places," said Eleanor Tillinghast, spokeswoman for Green Berkshires, a group that has opposed every commercial wind farm in the county. "If a structure conforms to the local bylaws and serves a purpose to the homeowner or farm, then they could be very appropriate."
Also filed under [
General|
Massachusetts]
Vic establishes renewable energy targets
July 17, 2006 by Alison Caldwell, Reporter in ABC News Online
July 17, 2006 by Alison Caldwell, Reporter in ABC News Online
...the Victorian Government has hit back, becoming the first state to set its own renewable energy targets in competition with the Minister's newly established national wind farm code.
But while the wind energy industry is elated and has promised that the State Government's new mandatory code will lead to hundreds of wind turbines springing up around coastal Victoria, will the industry be able to deliver?
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Australia / New Zealand]
he decision whether to approve or deny a resource consent application to build a 176-turbine windfarm on the Lammermoor Range could be removed from local government.
Also filed under [
General|
Australia / New Zealand]
RESIDENTS in conservation areas could be allowed to erect rooftop wind turbines without planning permission, under plans to encourage people to generate renewable energy.
The move could see some of Scotland’s most historic skylines blighted by the generators, which are the size of a satellite dish.
The additional money for renewable energy comes as wind-farm opponents criticised a State Government-commissioned report on the power source.
The report, released last week, found greenhouse gas emissions decreased between 250,000 and 310,000 tonnes a year for every 100 megawatts of electricity produced by wind farms.
Wind-farm critic Andrew Chapman said the report was based on "typical figures" rather than actual figures.
The visibility of wind turbines, which in this case will be up to 490 feet high from the top of the blade to the ground is a common problem, and bird deaths are another potential drawback, Day said. Bird deaths were common in the Altamont Pass, near the Bay Area, but this project is different, he said.
These turbines will not be visible from Lompoc and to people looking across the Valley from Vandenberg Village, they will look like toothpicks, Stahl said.
International operator Wind Prospect revealed this week it will not be pushing ahead at this stage with plans for a contentious site at Thockrington.
RESIDENTS of Auchtermuchty are being urged to have their say over plans to build a five-turbine windfarm near the town.
UK energy: don't bet the farm on emissions trading
July 15, 2006 by Matthew Cowie in Energy Business Review
July 15, 2006 by Matthew Cowie in Energy Business Review
As outlined in its newly-published energy review, the UK government has announced that its policy instrument of choice to encourage new nuclear build is a strong carbon market in Europe. If the European market is unable to deliver this, then additional UK incentives will be introduced to prop up the value of emission credits.