A wind turbine has been switched off and an investigation launched after its frozen blades showered nearby homes with large chunks of ice. Residents complained when the 260ft wind generator began hurling shards of ice, some measuring two feet long, after the cold snap over the weekend.

The worker is an employee of Vestas, a wind turbine manufacturer. A spokesman with that company said the incident was under investigation and details would be provided when they became available. Olavarria said the worker was outside the turbine in front of its nose when the explosion and fire occurred. It's not clear what caused the explosion or what burned, but the turbines do have lubricating oil inside, she said.

Residents were left fearing for their safety after shards of melting ice fell on homes and gardens from the blades of a giant wind turbine. For about four hours people in King's Dyke, Whittlesey, had to take cover as huge lumps - some two feet long - showered them from the 80 metre high tower on Saturday morning. Resident Peter Randall, whose son's house lies a stone's throw away from the turbine, said: "Somebody is going to get killed. There was huge lumps of ice shooting off and landing everywhere.

An explosion and fire at a wind farm under construction in northeast Nebraska has injured three workers. One man, who was atop a tower when a turbine exploded, received first- and second-degree burns in the fire Tuesday morning. Two others, who were nearby, were treated for smoke inhalation and released.

Kunz, an internationally known bat researcher and director of BU’s Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, said wind turbines annually kill many raptors as well as tens of thousands of bats in the United States. Since these turbines have been promoted as an answer to America’s energy woes, Kunz called for more research into the environmental effects of wind power. He also warned that high numbers of bat fatalities may cause populations of insects to increase dramatically. ...Unfortunately, Kunz said, many power companies refuse to fund research on the impacts of wind farms and some even deny scientists access to turbines to count bird and bat fatalities.

When the Bureau County Board voted to exclude a certain type of wind turbine from consideration for seven Walnut Ridge sites, the company was understandably concerned. ...On Nov. 17, Suzlon issued a statement regarding the S88. According to the statement, the problem with the S88 near Buda was with the V2 version, which has since been replaced with the V3 version.

Members of Citizens Wind Watch obtained and circulated copies of two e-mails sent from David Baum, the CREB chairman, to some town officials and other members of the CREB. The e-mails refer to a meeting on Nov. 14, in which council members June Speakman and Kate Weymouth, town manager Peter DeAngelis and Mr. Baum discussed the proposed wind turbine project. ..."The meeting and subsequent e-mail that David Baum sent ... smacks of backroom dealing, even if it was meant to be completely above board."

A wind farm worker is okay following a crane accident Sunday morning. A Winnebago County Sheriff's report confirms Billy Cody was trapped in a crane at the construction site located between Forest City and Thompson.

An internationally known bat researcher, however, says tens of thousands of bats are killed annually by wind turbines in the US. Unless researchers are monitoring a site, says Boston University professor Thomas Kunz, bat fatalities often go undetected, because their bodies are lost in the brush or eaten by scavengers. In a November 19 lecture sponsored by the Rhode Island National History Survey, Kunz, director of BU's Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, labeled wind energy "brown," not green. He also warned that high numbers of bat fatalities may cause populations of insects to increase dramatically.

Shortly after the Financial Town Meeting, where residents voted to approve funding for the construction of a wind turbine in town, Ms. Cuzzone started researching wind turbines and attending meetings for the renewable energy committee. She said the project's initially proposed location - the Barrington High School campus - propelled her to get involved. She lives on Lincoln Avenue, not far from the high school. A new location has since been selected - Legion Way near Brickyard Pond - but Ms. Cuzzone is still interested in the project.

A Sunday morning leak in a paint thinner pipe at the Vestas Blades paint building allowed about 20 to 30 gallons of the flammable material to be spilled. ...The spill is believed to be the first of its kind at the $60 million wind turbine blade manufacturing plant located on an 80-acre site in the Great Western Industrial Park.

As the state moves forward with the creation of zoning regulations for Rhode Island's coastal waters, commercial fishermen are worried their interests will not be adequately represented when key decisions are made about where they can fish. ...The fishermen, for their part, say they are supportive of efforts to develop renewable energy and are not looking to derail the SAMP project. "We can absolutely live together," said Wallis. "We just want to have a good say in that."

The setbacks in the proposed Enfield wind law are not large enough, according to a letter from the Tompkins County Planning Department to Town Supervisor Frank Podufalski, but following that advice could kill the wind farm proposal for a site near Connecticut Hill. The planning department recommends increased setbacks between property lines and the wind towers ...If the Enfield Town Board does not adopt the recommendations, it will need a supermajority, which means four votes on the five-member board, to pass the proposal into law.

The chairman of the committee exploring a wind turbine for the town is warning that the project is facing "paralysis by analysis" and he is calling on Barrington's "silent majority" to "break the deadlock and move forward on this first-of-many renewable energy solutions." ...Critics have called for actual wind measurements to determine if the breezes will be strong enough to make a turbine at Brickyard Pond economical. The committee has, instead, relied on historical wind speed data collected from other locations, data that have been extrapolated for the Barrington site.

Even though a New York-based wind farm developer has abandoned its plans to build a facility off the coast of Rhode Island, the company is still hoping to get into the wind-energy business here. Allco Renewable Energy Group Ltd. has approached a half-dozen Rhode Island communities with what some see as an appealing offer. The company will finance, build, operate and own a wind turbine within a town and sell the power at a price that's at or below what's available from the local utility company. And Allco will guarantee that price for 20 years.

The thought of a wind farm in waters off Rhode Island is "frightening" to commercial fishermen, an industry representative told state officials Wednesday at a meeting of those potentially affected by a proposed wind farm. ..."I can't stress enough how frightening this is for the commercial fishing industry," said Lanny Dellinger, president of the Rhode Island Lobstermen's Association. "I see people getting displaced."

One of the largest businesses in town is working toward going green. Decas Cranberry Company in South Carver has proposed installing a test tower to measure the wind on the property in an effort to determine whether a wind turbine would be a viable future energy source for the company.

A falling blade from a wind turbine near Wyanet in Bureau County last week has resulted in some fears, but one area school says there is no need to worry. The blade was 140 feet long and weighed 6 tons. Fortunately, it landed in a corn field and there were no injuries or damage to property. The Sherrard School District has just erected a wind turbine at its junior high and high school campus in lower Rock Island County, but there is no connection to the one that broke in Wyanet last Wednesday.

When it came time to start repairing a wind turbine at the ethanol plant on Oct. 15, the project had to be put on hold. ..."The blade has been cracked all summer. It's been frustrating," says Dan Moore, director of project development for Renewable Energy Solutions. When the broken blade was discovered, the turbine furthest from the ethanol plant had to be shut down. All three blades needed to be replaced, says Moore, because we couldn't find one to match the other two.

When we reported on the videotaped Vestas turbine explosion, the wind energy watchdog group Industrial Wind Action Group had a list of 36 turbine failures in the U.S. Today that list has grown to 51 recorded turbine failures. Across the pond, the British group Caithness Wind Farms, which tracks such global turbine accidents, says the number has jumped to 65 so far this year, up from 11 in 2001.