A $30-million wind turbine project that threatens an airstrip owned by legendary Spitfire fighter pilot Jerry Billing got zoning approval Monday from town council in a 6-2 vote. ...Erik Billing told council that area pilots would be at risk trying to thread their way through some of the 120-metre high turbines just west of the airstrip. ...Essex County's official plan amendment dealing with alternative energy calls for a four-kilometer buffer around airstrips registered with Transport Canada.

Five neighbours of the Hyndburn Wind Farm want to build 25m (80ft) wind turbines - nearly 100m (330ft) shorter than the 12 on Oswaldtwistle Moor. ...The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said more turbines would interfere with radar at its Warton base.

Drivers on Highway 85 through Commerce City saw something unexpected in the middle of the road at 112th Street. A large piece of a wind turbine was left on the road, in the middle of the intersection.

Large scale commercial wind power generation suffered a setback in town with a recent study based on Federal Aviation Administration standards limiting the height of turbines in air space on the approach to Chatham Municipal Airport. The study, conducted by Aviations Systems Inc. of Georgia, cites the potential for height restrictions on large wind turbines over much of the town. Barry Worth, chairman of the town’s utilities and energy conservation commission, said this week the report is under study, but it is clear regulations “limit the size and kilowatt ratings to be put up.” The study comes at a time when the board of appeals is scheduled to address a variance request to allow a commercial wind turbine at The Depot, a commercial business located along Depot Street in North Harwich, adjacent to the town of Dennis.

Officials at Naval Air Station Kingsville have led the charge for new notice requirements, saying wind farms, which look like storms or aircraft on radars, could hamper the base's mission to train jet pilots. The wind industry opposes new requirements.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and other Oregon lawmakers are putting strong pressure on top military officials to lift the Federal Aviation Administration's ban on new wind farm construction in the Mid-Columbia region. Wyden met Wednesday with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to "let him know that the delay in starting construction at Shepherds Flat wind farm was creating economic pain."

The U.S. Department of Energy has suggested that wind could supply up to 20 percent of the nation's energy by 2030. ...Improper wind turbine siting may negatively affect emergency medical flights, aerial firefighters, pipeline patrol planes and other low-flying operations. It is not just an aviation concern.

Instead of generating electricity, one of the turbines in the Erie Shores Wind Farm was crippled by it. A lightning strike bent one of the blades of a turbine on April 26 at 11:30 p.m. The turbine is located south of Nova Scotia Line and west of Port Burwell. David Price of Clean Power Income Fund, which owns the wind farm, said the machines are designed to withstand lightning, but only to a certain extent. "If the lightning hits the machine itself, it's not a problem," he said. "If it hits the blade, it can't withstand that kind of energy."

Lightning struck most of the wind turbines along Interstate 8 on the Campo Indian Reservation Monday night, causing severe damage to at least two of them, an official said. It's unclear how much damage the lighting strikes caused the other turbines, said Neal Emmerton, regional asset manager.

A wind turbine near Dodge Center lost one of its blades Friday night when lightning struck it and started a fire. The Rochester Fire Deparment was called to the fire because it had the closest long-ladder truck. Its 100-foot ladder was used to help extinguish the fire at 11:15 p.m. One rotor blade was lost, but fire officials were uncertain if the fire reached the generator portion of the device, which could compound the loss.

A wind turbine near Dodge Center lost one of its blades Friday night when lightning struck it and started a fire.

But no definite way to solve the problem is in sight and operators of these windmills are struggling to cope with lightning-caused breakdowns that threaten their operations. On Oct. 2, a fire broke out at the Sarakitomanai wind farm in Wakkanai.

The Bloomfield Fire Department responded to the emergency call, but the small fire burned itself out. In late 2008, an explosion and fire in a turbine injured three workers during construction of the Elkhorn Ridge wind farm in northeast Nebraska.

Lightning knocked out two wind turbines and sent a massive tower blade crashing to the ground at the Judith Gap Wind Farm last month, the company said Wednesday. Repairs began earlier this month and will continue into September, said Susan Dennison, an Invenergy spokeswoman.

Seven wind turbines in Cape Breton are at a standstill after being damaged by an electrical storm. Brian Robin, chief operating officer for Confederation Power, said the turbines in Lingan were damaged by a lightning strike shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Local residents are wondering if one wind turbine could collapse in Madison County, then it is very possible for a turbine to fall anywhere. Fairfield resident Jim Salamone thinks why couldn't it happen in his back yard. Salamone ...says he was not surprised when he woke up to find out a wind turbine had collapsed in Fenner. He says the meteorological tower that used to be right across from his home already collapsed because of wind and ice.

"Dozens of large timber lorries ply up and down the road on a daily basis removing thousands of tonnes of timber off the windfarm site," said local resident Joan Brookes. "Two convoys of abnormal loads drive up and down the road five days a week.

The May 14 fire at the skyscraper-size Turbine 12 at the Locust Ridge I commercial wind farm in Mahanoy Township occurred during routine maintenance, according to a company official. Jan Johnson, corporate communications director for Iberdrola Renewables in Portland, Ore., which owns the wind farm, said Thursday that Turbine 12 is still shut down. When asked how the fire started, she said, "We're still investigating."

The town's chances of becoming greener have been curtailed by its proximity to Logan International Airport, which is 0.2 to 2 miles from any given point in the community. The two locations identified for a turbine are 0.75 and 1.25 miles from the airport, according to the DPW. After submitting a permit application early last year, town officials received a verbal report in November from the Federal Aviation Administration that indicated that a 250-foot structure in the vicinity of the DPW site would create, "a potential concern with sound landing and takeoff procedures and may be within or uncomfortably close to critical surface area zones," Hickey stated in a letter to Winthrop's town manager last year.

A steel cylinder weighing more than a herd of elephants tumbled off a truck here Thursday and snarled traffic all day, prompting state officials to halt all such future shipments. Bound for a wind farm in Iowa, the 55-foot section of windmill fell onto the road shortly before 10 a.m. as startled onlookers watched in the center of the village's downtown business district. The colossal cargo came to a rest at Main St. and Appleton Ave., both state highways, where it blocked traffic throughout the day until about 9:25 p.m. and left downtown merchants cut off from their customers.