Farmers and landowners should be aware that changes in the way green electricity will be funded mean there is currently strong demand for wind farm sites. The current system, that beefs up the income from onshore wind farm sites by up to 50%, is due to be changed in 2010 or soon after to favour offshore wind farms as they are considered more acceptable to the public rather than on shore ones. "Wind farm companies are going hell for leather to find onshore sites and agree terms with landowners during 2007," notes head of Fisher German's renewables team Mark Newton. "It's a lengthy planning process to get a site approved which normally takes three to five years, and they need to get a project agreed and built before the system changes. Otherwise the site will not be as profitable for the landowner and the wind farm company."

A tax break that has helped spur the development of windmill farms in Washington state could be extended for five years as part of the new Senate energy bill, Sen. Maria Cantwell said Wednesday. But the ability to carry that power from turbines in some of the wind-swept regions of the Northwest to the customers who need it isn't part of the proposal at this time.

Aided by a tax break that helps keep costs in line with fossil fuels, the wind-energy industry has hummed in recent years, generating annual growth rates of 25 percent or more. Wind power, once the province of a few entrepreneurial executives looking for alternatives to coal and other "dirty" fuels, now churns out enough electricity to light 3 million homes. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) counts more than 1,000 members, including giant companies such as General Electric. Five years ago, the trade group had just a couple hundred members. Along with the industry's growth has come new lobbying muscle, which includes a traditional lobbying tool: a map of the United States scattered with dots representing the jobs the industry creates.

The Democratic Congress is poised to pass the most green-friendly legislation in a generation. There are bills, either already on the floor or in committee, that would encourage the use of renewable fuels, improve energy efficiency and curb global warming. If there's a holdup, don't blame Republicans: Even President Bush has signaled his willingness to support some kinds of curbs in global warming. The hitch-and it's a big one-lies with the Democrats themselves. Earlier this year, in an attempt to rein in the federal deficit, House Democrats, put in place "pay-go" restrictions requiring any new entitlement spending or tax cuts to be offset by budget trims or tax increases.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie today launched a $414 million climate change strategy to address what he called one of the "greatest challenges" facing the state. The new funding brings the total contribution to climate change initiatives to $1.3 billion, and proposes a number of key initiatives for business, industry and community through the ClimateSmart 2050 plan. One of the key components is the plan to increase the percentage of gas energy generation from the current 13 per cent to 18 per cent by 2020. He said using natural gas to generate power produces 50 per cent fewer emissions than coal.

Britain has had three national policies in ten years. And it still hasn't made up its mind about nuclear energy

Four months after saying his "New Energy Economy" was more than a campaign promise, Gov. Bill Ritter will sign a half-dozen measures this week encouraging Coloradans to make more renewable energy and consume less fuel overall. On Tuesday, Ritter signed a bill that rewards utilities for promoting energy conservation. It was vetoed twice by his predecessor, GOP Gov. Bill Owens. Today, Ritter plans to sign measures to promote recycling and biofuels development, encourage construction of transmission lines from solar and wind farms and provide tax credits for renewable energy.

Big property-tax breaks for developers that construct clean coal-fired power plants and transmission lines carrying "clean and green" energy were approved by Montana lawmakers on the final day of the special session. "This is a classic jobs and environment bill," said Evan Barrett, chief business officer in the governor's office of economic development.

State lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a measure to encourage wind farms in Nebraska. The bill would permit public power districts to work with private developers and landowners to build electricity-generating wind turbines. All 49 lawmakers voted in favor of Legislative Bill 629, which now goes to Gov. Dave Heineman for his signature. Under the plan, developers and private equity firms would work with rural Nebraskans to build wind farms and collect federal incentives for alternative energy production. When the incentives expire after 10 years, the Nebraskans would attain full ownership of the projects.

The U.S. Energy Department issued proposed regulations for a loan-guarantee program for new, eco-friendly energy projects, like nuclear. The money - $13 billion between the 2007 adopted and 2008 requested fiscal years' budgets - would give financial backing to energy projects that haven't made it to the market. Eligible projects, in part, would use new technology to "avoid, reduce or sequester" greenhouse-gas emissions, the 2005 Energy Policy Act states.

Renewable energy is proving to be an oasis of cooperation amid conflict in Congress, but technology probably will determine how long that lasts and how much South Dakota benefits. A U.S. Senate committee last week passed a measure by a 20-3 vote increasing ethanol production seven-fold. The majority included a proxy vote by Sen. Tim Johnson, according to a spokeswoman. Sen. John Thune proposed a major tax break for wind energy, and this week will hear arguments for increasing vehicle fuel-economy standards.

Wind turbines flourishing in California's Altamont and Tehachapi passes need tighter federal regulation, environmentalists told lawmakers Tuesday. Wind energy officials disagree. Thus the battle is joined, at a politically sensitive time. With tax credits up in the air and a long-awaited study arriving on how wind turbines kill birds and bats, strong opinions are blowing across Capitol Hill. As often happens, the central policy question pits rules against recommendations.

MONTPELIER - The Senate very narrowly approved a tax Tuesday on revenue earned by Entergy, the company that owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, to pay for a program to reduce the use of heating fuels in the state. The "all fuels" efficiency program to help pay for weatherization and other heating fuel saving measures has become one of the most contentious issues in the Statehouse this year. The tax was passed along with preliminary approval of the Senate's entire energy and anti-global warming bill Tuesday was by a vote of 18-11. The real fight, however, was whether to accept the proposed 35 percent tax on revenue gained by Entergy from the operation of the Vermont Yankee plant. That attempt passed by a 15-14 vote.

An environmental group wants Congress to protect birds as part of new tax credits for wind energy currently under consideration. The tax-writing committees on both sides of the hill are working on legislation to extend production tax credits for wind power and other renewable energy. Wind power advocates are pressing for the extension of the 1.9-cents-per-kilowatt-hour credit, which they say is crucial for projects to attract funding. Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy will ask Congress today to be sure to link any federal tax credit or subsidy to a requirement that companies mitigate harm to federally protected migratory birds. Fry is one of several bird advocates testifying before the House Natural Resources Committee today on wind power's effects on birds and bats. ‘Any renewal of the production tax credit for wind energy should include provisions that require developers follow best management practices in avoiding and minimizing bird and wildlife impacts, Fry said in a statement released yesterday.

Filibusters in the Nebraska Legislature can't compare with the wind blowing through Boone County fields east of here. New wind maps prove what many Boone County residents have known for years - the wind really does blow harder and more often in these hills. Now, with a wind farm being proposed for the Petersburg area, that wind could become another crop to be harvested and put some extra cash in farmers' pockets. Jim Jenkins, Nebraska representative for Third Planet Windpower of Bad Axe, Mich., stresses that the company is still in the early phases of negotiations and discussion with regard to "the business structure' for its proposed investment of up to $170 million in a wind farm east of here.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer unveiled a new energy strategy yesterday that relies on reducing the state's energy use by 15 percent by 2015, investing $300 million in renewable and "clean" power projects and increasing supply by enacting a law to expedite power-plant siting. Simultaneously, the state gave a big boost to wind power by awarding performance-based grants to nine new "wind farms," including three in Steuben County in western New York and one in Herkimer County in the north-central section of the state. These sites, which state officials predict will open next year, will significantly increase the state's use of wind. There are now just four large-scale wind power sites that supply power to the electricity grid, state officials said.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer today unveiled a new energy strategy that relies on reducing energy use 15 percent by 2015, investing $300 million in renewable and "clean" power projects and increasing supply by passing a new law to expedite power-plant siting. "The result will be lower energy bills, a cleaner environment that addresses climate change and thousands of new jobs fueled by a new industry born from clean power," Spitzer said in a speech to a business group in Manhattan.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal will begin a series of hearings tomorrow on energy and tax policy proposals that will give tax incentives to companies for using alternative sources of energy. As chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, the Springfield Democrat will look at using tax incentives to prompt the private sector to develop or expand the use of clean and renewable energy with the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The New Hampshire House's passage of a renewable energy bill April 5 might spur even more wood-fired power plant projects, such as Public Service of New Hampshire's 50-megawatt facility at Schiller Station in Portsmouth and several projects recently proposed in the North Country. One of those North Country projects involves Laidlaw Ecopower, which hopes to buy the mothballed 11-story boiler in the former Fraser Papers mill in Berlin and construct a 50-megawatt wood-chip-burning power plant around it. The other, proposed by North Country Renewable Energy, involves plans for a similar renewable energy park in Northumberland that would make ethanol from wood chips and operate a biomass power plant in the 45- to 75-megawatt range.

The Montana Legislature last week tabled an opportunity for the state's farmers and ranchers to profit from wind. By voting at the last minute to table Senate Bill 337, a bill that would have allowed Green Electricity Buying Cooperative to use $31.7 million in bonding authority to build 40 windmills on 40 farms across Montana, Montana legislators put on hold the wind company's plans to put together a bid for clean energy bonds and incorporate 40 ranches or farms involved in producing wind energy across the state.