The controversial Scout Moor Wind Farm was officially opened today. The Edenfield moorland wind farm will generate enough power to supply the needs of 40,000 homes, which is the equivalent of roughly half the houses in Rochdale. ...Construction on the wind farm began in 2006 when Nordex was appointed to manufacture the wind turbines from its German factory. Opposition to the development had been fierce since Scout Moor was first identified as a possible site for a wind farm. Rochdale MP Paul Rowen was against the development and Norden residents set up a campaign group, Friends of Scout and Knowl Moor, to retain the area as common land.

The visual impact of Cornwall's biggest wind farm is under review after protesters challenged "misleading" claims it would have a minimal effect on the Davidstow countryside. Developer Community Windpower Ltd has confirmed it will carry out an "in house review" of the photomontages submitted to North Cornwall planners as part of the company's Environmental Statement ...

Energy giants E.ON UK have denied claims they are having problems with the construction of the Robin Rigg windfarm. Rumours in recent weeks have suggested they were having difficulty installing the foundations for the turbines in the Solway Firth due to the amount of sand. ...Developers hope it will be completed next year and it should produce 180MW of electrical generation.

An advertising watchdog which said a leaflet about a proposed wind farm was misleading and untruthful has withdrawn its ruling. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) today confirmed it had withdrawn the ruling against campaign group Fenland Landscapes Against Turbines (FLAT). A spokesman said: “We have since found out that the leaflet which was sent out was political material, which is beyond the remit of the ASA, so we have withdrawn our adjudication.”

Energy bosses have now pledged to expand Burnley's flagship wind farm just days after a report branded them a waste of money. Scottish Power has said the 24-turbine Coalcough farm, sited on hills above Cliviger, has been a success since it opened in 1992, supplying power to the National Grid. No details have yet been announced on how extensive the expansion will be.

Wind farms are failing to deliver value for money and distorting the development of other renewable energy sources, a report claims.

The Steam Packet is 'extremely disappointed' the UK Government has given consent to the development of a windfarm across its shipping line. The creation of a new windfarm at West of Duddon Sands, located 14km southwest of the Barrow-in-Furness coastline, was granted planning permission by UK authorities. ...the Steam Packet says the UK Government has given consent to the windfarm development without properly taking into account either the 'navigational concerns or the environmental costs of forcing ships to detour around the site'.

Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, has told ministers in London and Edinburgh that it wants urgent action to protect seven world heritage sites which it claims are in danger from building developments, and said in some cases the UK is ignoring its legal obligations to protect them. Their complaints range from decisions to approve new tower blocks in central London, such as the 66-storey "shard of glass" at London Bridge, to the failure to relocate the A344 beside Stonehenge despite promising action for 22 years, to a proposed wind farm which threatens neolithic sites on Orkney.

The decision on whether four wind turbines will be built at Aston Grange will be known in October. A week-long planning inquiry ended at Forest Hills Hotel, Frodsham, last Wednesday. Weaver Vale MP Mike HallPlanning inspector Andrew Pykett heard evidence from developers Tegni Cymru and opponents to the plans to build four, 410ft high wind turbines at Aston Grange.

Council bosses have defended using thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to employ outside consultants to evaluate a planning application for a wind farm in the ward represented by the authority's leader. East Staffordshire Borough Council has already set aside £5,000 as a 'contingency' against plans to build a wind farm at Bagots Park, near Abbots Bromley. ...The proposal currently hangs in the balance after planning staff at the council revealed that they had been bombarded by letters both supporting and opposing the bid, following an extensive public relations and marketing campaign by Airtricity.

Airtricity has hit a major setback with a proposed wind farm in Norfolk, after two landowners opted to pull out of a project to build a new 12 turbine wind farm. Norfolk community, preparing to fight plans for a 12-turbine wind farm, is celebrating after landowners pulled out of the scheme. Airtricity Development had faced strong opposition to plans for the 125m turbines in Mosseymere in Norfolk, with a local community group being formed to fight the development.

The 500-megawatt Duddon Sands offshore wind farm scheme planned off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, is one of the largest offshore wind farms to get the green light in the UK to date. Comprising up to 139 turbines near Walney Island, the wind farm was announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a speech to business leaders at the CBI Scotland's annual dinner last night. ...An industry official said it would take several years to build a wind farm of this scale and that it would require investment of well over £1bn.

Hunslet Hawks Rugby League Club say they are "finished" as the aerodynamics created by the giant structure will cause problems with training and matches. Leeds City Athletics Club, which also trains there, say the noise will put off athletes and that the extra wind would hamper throwing events. But athletes have no choice but to stay there as it's "the best outdoor track in the city". Both clubs say they were not consulted and arrived at training on Thursday night to find the turbine just metres from the pitch.

The chairman and chief executive of Australian investment group Babcock & Brown, which holds a 23% stake in Forth Ports, both quit yesterday amid the group's continuing financial troubles. Long-serving chief executive Phil Green and chairman James Babcock, who founded the company in 1977, have stepped aside from their roles at the troubled asset management and advisory company.

Drone Hill wind farm inquiry has been halted midway through proceedings after documents available for public inspection were mistakenly held in Duns instead of Eyemouth. Government Reporter Malcolm Mahony had no option but to postpone the inquiry on Friday after a member of the public notified him that the documents, supplied by Scottish Borders Council, had not been kept at the agreed venue of Eyemouth Library prior to the inquiry. As a result of the blunder, the inquiry has been adjourned until Tuesday, September 30, in Coldingham Village Hall.

An emergency meeting was held at Argyll and Bute Council's headquarters in Lochgilphead yesterday to discuss Friday's shock announcement that the Vestas wind-turbine factory at Machrihanish, near Campbeltown, is to close its manufacturing plant in Kintyre with the loss of 92 jobs. ...A council statement said no representative from Vestas attended the meeting, insisting that any talks had to take place at the company's head office in Denmark.

Energy groups are to demand billions of pounds in extra subsidies from the Government to build the wind farms needed to hit the UK's environmental targets. The EU says 15% of all UK energy must come from renewables such as wind by 2020, but sharply rising costs are making some of these projects uneconomic. The budget for the biggest scheme - a wind farm in the Thames Estuary, which is intended to generate up to one per cent of the UK's electricity - has doubled to £2bn in the past two years.

The First Minister's plans for the nation to become the green capital of Europe were dealt a blow yesterday after a major wind turbine manufacturer announced plans to close its Scottish factory. ...In a statement Vestas said: "Evaluations have shown that the products for which the factory was designed and streamlined do not generate satisfactory earnings."

Global warming, climate change - call it what you will, going green has become increasingly important over the last few years, and if there's one way we can make a difference it's in our homes. But sadly, in this capitalist society of ours, you can be sure that for every trend, fad or movement there's a cunning marketing exec waiting to make a few quid out of it. The green movement is no exception, and Greenwashing - misleading consumers or exaggerating a company or product's environmental status in order to get a share of the green pound - is rife.

Scotland's only wind turbine tower factory, which employs 92 people, is under threat, the BBC has learned. The Danish company Vestas is to cease production of turbine towers at its factory near Campbeltown. BBC Scotland understands production will be gradually run down over the next few months.