Geothermal wells, solar panels and maybe a wind turbine, too. Indian River Central School District's use of alternative energy sources to cut costs was a big topic of discussion at Thursday night's Board of Education meeting. The district is conducting a solar energy feasibility study, Business Manager James R. Koch announced. The board also committed $2,500 to pursue a wind energy feasibility study.

Legislation regulating the placement of wind turbines around the state ought to be considered by lawmakers during the next legislative session. That was the main message delivered to Rutland County senators and representatives during a two-hour meeting on Wednesday at the Clarendon Grange Community Center. ..."There will be an attempt this session to put this on the table," Potter said. Klopchin urged all legislators to "work hard to pass laws" during the coming year. "Many hands make light work," he said.

A hearing scheduled for November 10 at the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) regarding the Tamarack Ridge wind energy project has been postponed by request of the Virginia Department of Historical Resources (DHR). ...DHR requested the continuance until it has received the requested information from the Parks Service and had time to "review, analyze and consult with Highland New Wind about these reports."

Large wind turbines would be clearly visible two miles off the Carolina coast but would all but disappear into the haze eight miles out to sea from the Grand Strand, a new photo simulation shows. Clemson's South Carolina Institute for Energy Studies created the simulation as part of Santee Cooper's research into the viability of building a wind farm off the Grand Strand. The visual impact of the wind turbines has been a major hurdle for some projects in the United States and Europe.

More than 60 people turned out Friday night for the first public informational meeting on a proposed wind farm project on a ridgeline in Dixfield and Canton. Most spoke against siting a wind farm on the Colonel Holman Mountain ridge, stating beliefs that noise and shadow flicker could cause a variety of illnesses in people who live within 2 miles of a turbine. Three of the four speakers were opposed to wind turbines.

Jubilant opponents of the wind farm have hailed the decision as a victory for the "small guys". Appellant John Douglas said it showed what could happen when community groups stood up for what they believed in. "It's also a slap in the face to show companies they have to respect what's in the district plan and the criteria in the Resource Management Act."

"It was an inappropriate scheme in an inappropriate place and I always felt that the bench would recognise that." That was Project Hayes appellant Grahame Sydney's reaction yesterday to the Environment Court's decision to uphold an appeal against Meridian Energy's proposed $2 billion wind farm on the Lammermoor Range in Central Otago. In a 350-page decision released to parties yesterday, the court refused consents for Project Hayes.

Angered by a Town Board vote in Italy, Yates County, to kill a turbine proposal, a wind-energy company is asking a judge to override the elected board members and allow the project to go forward. Ecogen Wind LLC, which had been seeking permission to erect 17 wind turbines, each standing 415 feet, said in court papers filed Wednesday that town leaders had dodged and delayed a decision on the proposal since 2002.

Business has been slow, so dairy farmer Bernie Kozlovsky could use a little extra cash as much as the next guy. But a developer's offer of $6,000 annually for access to his property has Kozlovsky - and many of his neighbors - conflicted about whether to welcome a wind farm into southern Brown County. The proposal by Chicago-based Invenergy LLC would be Brown County's first major commercial wind farm and would be larger than any currently operating in the state.

State-owned Meridian Energy's $2 billion Project Hayes wind farm proposal has been rejected in the Environment Court, dealing a savage blow to the wind power sector. The parties were handed a 350- page decision yesterday, which upheld the appeal against an earlier consent from local councils for the project. Environmental groups are claiming a "comprehensive victory" against the Central Otago project. ...An electricity industry source said the Environment Court "slammed Meridian".

Selectmen and a large crowd at Thursday night's board meeting came to hear a presentation by Boston-based wind power company First Wind on its proposed Longfellow wind farm project for Black Mountain and North and South Twin mountains. Instead, everyone learned that such a project might not even be viable, because First Wind studies so far show that wind atop Black Mountain is too strong for wind turbine engineering to handle, said Matthew Kearns, vice president of business development for First Wind.

VPR Photo/John Dillon (Host) A proposal for a large-scale wind energy project is bringing out strong emotions in the Northeast Kingdom. At a public meeting this week, residents worried about the potential noise from the turbines, and the impact on tourism and property values. VPR's John Dillon has more.

A collection of humble plants clinging to 600 million-year-old rocks on a distant mountain range and a small dragon given to promiscuous sex under a hot sun have forced planners to redraw the map for the southern hemisphere's biggest wind farm. The discovery that spinifex - normally an inhabitant of the red dirt plains below - is living on sediment probably deposited in the last Ice Age and has red mallee and gum coolibah trees for neighbours is so strange and rare that the Silverton wind farm designers have moved 153 turbines from some of the windiest ridges.

Cape Wind Associates LLC faces yet another hurdle in its eight-year quest to build a wind farm in Nantucket Sound. A decision on whether to list Nantucket Sound on the National Register of Historic Places is now in the hands of the National Park Service. A ruling to list the Sound would not automatically kill Cape Wind's proposed wind farm, but it could lead to delays in the project's construction, as the project would be forced to meet new requirements.

Despite significant opposition in Western Massachusetts, state environmental affairs secretary Ian Bowles is pushing hard to get a controversial wind-turbine law passed before the legislative session ends on Nov. 18. The bill could benefit a wind-energy firm, recently relocated to Boston, whose chief executive helped co-author the proposed law and whose financial backers have close ties to the Obama administration.

The Environment Court has upheld an appeal against Meridian Energy's proposed $2 billion 176-turbine Project Hayes wind farm. The decision represents a startling "David and Goliath'' victory for the conservation groups who fought to preserve the landscape in a remote part of Central Otago. Consents for the project were declined in a mammoth 350-page ruling by the Court, published today.

A survey in Rhode Island shows that 89% have positive opinions on the use of wind turbines to generate electricity, but 50% rate the cost of wind as an important issue and 44% say noise is an important consideration. The state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the town of Narragansett surveyed local residents on the possible installation of three to 6 wind turbines on state or town properties in the area. The town is located on the Atlantic Ocean, near Nantucket.

But if Bluewater's offshore wind farm gets built, it may have both to thank for keeping the project afloat. Bluewater lost its financial backing when its Australian parent company, Babcock and Brown, was ravaged by debt and the global economic meltdown. The wind farm developer missed a critical deadline this summer to provide a letter of credit to Delmarva, which has a 25-year contract with Bluewater to buy power from turbines off the coast of Rehoboth Beach.

A wind turbine at a North East hospital has produced no electricity since 2007, it emerged last night. The engine at Wansbeck General Hospital, at Ashington, Northumberland has been out of service for two years because of a fault. The news comes on the back of previous stories highlighting faults with turbines at Blyth and Kirkheaton, which left them inactive for long periods. Critics of wind power last night said the new revelation is further proof turbines are an unreliable source of electricity.

A Wyoming wind power developer, Wind Holding LLC, has lost its $500 million contract with Colorado State University to build a wind farm at Maxwell Ranch near the Wyoming-Colorado border. Wind Holding was to finance and build the wind farm on land leased from the university. CSU and Wind Holding would then sell the power to recoup construction costs. Wind Holding was not chosen through a competitive bidding process, but instead had approached the university.