THE comprehensive landscape reasons for planners recommending the IW Council turn down the controversial Wellow wind farm have been unveiled to the public, ahead of Monday’s planning decision on the scheme. Consultants acting for the IW Council concluded the six turbines, two of which are nearly 110 metres tall, would have significant adverse effects on the protected landscape, nearby homes and rights of way, and insufficient consideration had been given by applicant Your Energy to mitigating adverse effects on the countryside. Insufficient information was provided on the impact of the turbines on bats.

Wildlife advocates hoping for a stronger voice in regulations concerning wind energy development on land and sea are expected to testify Wednesday at a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C. While the Cape Wind proposal isn't specifically on the agenda, you can bet that folks on both side of the proposal will be interested in the aftermath of the hearing. At issue will be the proposed "Energy Policy Reform and Revitalization Act of 2007," filed by U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va.

On the night of Dec. 7, I drove through some very thick fog. As I traveled state Route 190 from Ellenburg to Brainardsville my fog lights illuminated one of the grizzliest scenes I have experienced. I counted 15 bloody, mutilated corpses of snow geese spread out over several miles.

Massive wind turbines seem to be killing more and more migratory bats, prompting research into these neglected creatures and efforts to minimize the toll. ...The deaths have led to a flurry of research on migratory bats and their behavior. "The problem with bats and wind energy has pushed a lot of work that wouldn't have occurred otherwise," says Edward Arnett of the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Bat Conservation International. Indeed, at a January conference in Berlin on migratory bats, wind farms were a dominant theme. Scientists are racing to figure out what brings the bats in contact with wind turbines, and what can be done to save them.

A shocked busload of nuclear workers witnessed the death of a buzzard after it flew into one of the wind turbines at Forss. The demise of the adult buzzard was seen on Wednesday by a group of workers travelling between New Park business park at Forss and the neighbouring site at Dounreay at lunchtime on Wednesday. The financial administrator, Terry Luckock, reported the death to the RSPB. She said: “It was a real shame to see such a beautiful bird killed in this way. It did not stand a chance given that it collided with a moving, nine-tonne blade.” Ms Luckock, 41, from Halkirk, does not believe it was an isolated occurrence.

"There's not a lot of nesting raptors on Wolfe Island, but (the mortality rate) might be 10% per year," said Batalla. "Locally, one day they might not be there any more." The mortality figures were released Monday by TransAlta, which owns and operates the 86-turbine, 197.8-megawatt facility. A TransAlta environmental services manager was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

ANOTHER wedge-tailed eagle has died after being found injured on a wind farm in north-western Tasmania. The bird was put down last week after being injured at Woolnorth wind farm in the far North-West. The eagle, an endangered Tasmanian sub-species recognised as the largest bird of prey in the nation, is thought to have collided with a turbine.

Some of Pennsylvania’s mountaintops may become a battleground between developers and environmentalists. Developers are eyeing the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, which cross the middle of the state, to construct wind turbines to generate electricity. But migrating birds fly over those mountains every year and environmentalists worry the giant rotating blades of the turbines could kill many birds and alter their migrating patterns. About 150 people, residents and members of conservation groups, gathered Saturday at Kutztown University to discuss the growth of wind energy in Pennsylvania and nearby states.

THE number of wedge-tailed eagle deaths at a Tasmanian windfarm may be higher than officially acknowledged. Up to six of the endangered eagles may have been killed in the past year after being struck by turbines at the Woolnorth windfarm in the far North-West. Windfarm operator Roaring 40s, jointly owned by Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power, puts this year's official death toll at four. However, a further two eagles found dead at the windfarm this year are not included in the tally.

But what happens when a good idea is put in the wrong place? "You've gotta look at the ecological setting. And some settings are wrong for it," said Jim Blackburn, a Houston-based environmental lawyer working for the Coastal Habitat Alliance, CHA. Projects by two companies now underway would put 600 wind turbines about 400 feet tall along the South Texas coast. That's where millions of migratory birds must pass through to fly south for the winter. "It's a world-class worst site," said Blackburn. CHA and other coastal environmental groups say the blades will kill the birds, and project threatens valuable Texas wetlands. But the companies behind the wind farms don't need any state permits to build.

In September, a report by the Government Accountability Office found that the federal government offers minimal oversight in approving wind-power plants. The report urged federal officials to take a more active role in weighing the effect of wind power farms on bird and bat deaths

Wind energy developers in New York now have guidelines on how to survey potential turbine sites for their impact on birds and bats. Earlier this month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued its advice regarding how to minimize damage to bat and bird habitats. "These guidelines set forth DEC's recommendations to commercial wind energy developers on how to characterize bird and bat resources at on-shore wind energy sites and how to estimate and document impacts resulting from the construction and operation of these projects."

State environmental officials want wind energy developers to pay closer attention to how their projects will affect birds and bats. The Department of Environmental Conservation proposed a set of guidelines to promote wind power and minimize the danger to birds and bats. Developers have been required to analyze how wind projects would affect wildlife before they are allowed to build and the new guidelines will standardize that review.

The conclusion of the state environmental quality review process has led developers to cut two turbines from the plan for Galloo Island Wind Farm. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which has been the lead agency on the review, released its findings Wednesday. Those findings included the elimination of two turbines to preserve habitat for the upland sandpiper, a state-listed threatened species.

The state DEC office has released a much anticipated draft assessment on possible impacts of a wind farm to be located on a island just off of Sackets Harbor. The project, proposed by a West Seneca Company, Upstate New York Power Corporation, would put 84 wind turbines on Galloo Island, about 12 miles west of Sackets.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to see more studies in the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm's draft environmental impact statement. Upstate NY Power Corp., backed by Pattern Energy Group LP, San Francisco, plans to build an 84-turbine wind farm on the island rated at 252 megawatts. Recently, Pattern bought out Babcock & Brown Ltd.

Plans by Lewis Windpower for a wind farm at Barvas Moor in Lewis have been refused consent on the grounds of incompatibility with European law. Ministers have concluded that the proposed 181 turbine Lewis Wind Farm would have a serious impact on the Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area, which is designated under the EC Birds Directive and protected under the EC Habitats Directive. ..."European legislation requires a specific procedure to be followed when proposals which could potentially affect Special Protection Areas come forward. I considered all the relevant issues and concluded it would not be possible to approve this application.

A decision will be made in coming months on whether the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm needs an Environmental Effects Statement. Wind Power made the referral to the Planning Minister Justin Madden last month for its proposed 282-turbine wind farm. If Mr Madden finds the project would have a significant environmental impact, the company must prepare an EES document. Wind Power engineer Ross Richards said the company had worked with the Department of Sustainability and Environment to reduce possible environmental impacts, working out the best location for the turbines.

The manager of a Sutherland estate yesterday reassured people protesting against a proposed windfarm on the estate that there were no plans to corral deer and slaughter them as part of a mass cull connected with the development. Objectors to the 35-turbine windfarm at Gordonbush, near Brora, produced a leaflet in which they criticised the habitat management plan (HMP) of developer Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE).

The proposed Deerfield Wind project in Readsboro and Searsburg is continuing to move forward with the Public Service Board approving a plan for a bear study and the public comment period set by the Green Mountain National Forest ended.