Anti-windfarm campaigners say that installing turbines at Todd Hill could have a devastating impact on wildlife and tourism. Members of the Put People First (PPF) group have highlighted concerns for birds, bats and other animals if a Novera Energy application for four turbines near Pigdon is approved. They say the area is host to a wide range of species.

Children at an island primary were sent home after a newly-installed wind turbine next to their school collapsed, it emerged yesterday. Parents of youngsters at the 18-pupil Raasay Primary School were asked to collect their children following the incident on November 13. The 50ft turbine will "remain out of commission" until an investigation has been carried out.

Power producers have installed more than 500 megawatts of wind energy generation in Wyoming in the past year. One driver behind the wind boom presumably is action by other states in the West to require that utilities use certain percentages of renewable energy in their power supplies -- called renewable portfolio standards. ...That has many speculating whether renewable portfolio standards in other states are driving up rates in Wyoming, where there is no such requirement.

The Selinger government is considering a bailout deal to rescue the financially floundering wind farm slated to be built near St. Joseph. Following some pointed questions from Tory MLA Cliff Graydon during a committee hearing late Tuesday night, Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk acknowledged Pattern Energy has approached the government for funding and that the province is considering it.

Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would put off debate on a big climate-change bill until spring, in a sign of weakening political will to tackle a long-term environmental issue at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty. Legislation on health care, overhauling financial markets and job creation will be considered before the Senate takes up a measure to cap emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to climate change, Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday.

The Government says it wants to cut the red tape and expense involved in generating energy from wind, and insists the new rules will come with strict conditions about noise, size and appearance. But rural campaigners said the changes to the planning system could lead to a 'free-for-all' and warned that the countryside was in danger of being sacrificed in the battle against global warming.

Magnificent views enjoyed by visitors to an award-winning North East holiday complex would be ruined by plans to build four massive wind turbines nearby, it is claimed. Businessman Alun Moore has invested about £2m over the last 20 years in developing his Beacon Hill holiday centre, 15 self-catering cottages and a luxury spa on a hilltop north west of Morpeth. ...But now Mr Moore fears his business, which employs 14 people locally, will suffer badly if plans by Novera Energy to erect four 101m turbines at nearby Todd Hill, Pigdon, are given the go-ahead.

Wind turbines standing as high as 15 metres (50ft) will be allowed on farmland and industrial estates without planning permission, under proposals to boost renewable energy. The turbines will be approved across large areas of the countryside, provided they meet noise and impact restrictions. John Healey, the housing minister, also announced plans to fast-track applications for solar panels on stadiums, schools, railway stations and offices, as part of proposals to achieve national commitments on climate change.

Villagers are celebrating after plans to build a wind farm, on the former wartime airfield at Graveley, were thrown out by Huntingdonshire District Council. Opponents of the plan by Npower Renewables packed the Burgess Hall ...Councillors also strengthened opposition to the plan by beefing up a recommendation of refusal by planners who considered that four of the proposed eight turbines would have an adverse effect on the Grade II listed Toseland Hall.

Proposals to build Europe's largest onshore windfarm in the Shetland Islands at a cost of £800 million could be scaled back, according to developer Viking Energy, writes Will Nichols. The limited company originally presented plans for the 150 turbine, 540MW project to the Shetland Islands council this summer. However, last week, a spokesman for Viking Energy told NewEnergyFocus.com that the company is to submit an addendum to its plans early in the new year in a response to concerns flagged up during consultation, including over bird life and landscape.

The solicitations have been flooding people's mailboxes lately: pay a bit more on your electricity bill for 100 percent clean wind power. Or, the fliers say, buy "green power certificates" to offset your global warming emissions. Close to a million electricity customers have signed up for such payments voluntarily, and the amount of electricity sold in this way has nearly tripled since 2005, amid rising concern about climate change and energy security. But the participants are in a distinct minority, with a sign-up rate of only about 2 percent in programs run by utilities.

The High Court has thrown out a legal bid that had the potential of derailing the drive to achieving the UK's ambitious wind energy targets. Mr Justice Cranston rejected a challenge to the authority of South Norfolk Council and their decision to grant planning permission for a wind farm development at Lotus sports car factory. Campaigners had argued that the local authority had acted unlawfully because it had not considered the impact of the scheme on local residents.

Umatilla County is again asking the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council to do away with a 400,000 acre box designated as an energy generation area. The box sits along the north border of the county, in about the center. It includes Milton-Freewater, Adams, Athena, Weston and some of Pendleton. In 1999 the siting council designated the EGA in response to a legislative mandate. The Oregon Department of Energy has been unclear on the EGA's original purpose, but some have said it was meant to analyze cumulative effects of many small wind farms in a given area.

The Government's renewable energy strategy is in tatters after a report exposing the true costs of generating electricity by wind power. An internal document from the National Grid, seen by the Sunday Express, says wind turbine energy will at times cost over 3,000 per cent more than conventional power. Industry experts say over-reliance on wind power could mean fuel poverty for consumers, as older power plants reach the end of their working lives while Britain's new generation of nuclear stations is still a long way off completion.

The hostile battle for control of Novera Energy took a new twist today as it emerged that one of the company's pipeline wind farm projects could be halted by fears it could cause a mid-air fighter jet collision. In an intervention which could have ramifications for many onshore wind projects, an air traffic control expert has told North Yorkshire planning officials to block Novera's Bullamoor project, where it envisages massive 120 metre-tall turbines on farmland near Northallerton.

Campaigners have launched a website to gather support in opposition of plans to construct a wind farm with up to eight turbines near Kimbolton. The Stop Bicton Wind Farm website (www.stopbictonwindfarm.org.uk) has been created by Stow Longa resident, Richard Murphy who has also set up an action group. ...Mr Murphy said he was sceptical about the plans as he believes the impact would be greater than the environmental benefits.

Early work on a unified wind turbine policy was met with many questions at Thursday's Burleigh County Planning Commission meeting. Bismarck City Planner Gregg Greenquist said the policy should be split between "household wind energy systems" and larger wind farms. Greenquist said a large expansion is planned for a wind farm near Wilton into the Burleigh County jurisdiction.

A Patrick administration proposal that critics say would strip local control from the siting of wind turbines is still awaiting action on Beacon Hill. And some West County town officials say revisions in the legislation don't go far enough in addressing their concerns. The Hawley Planning Board wrote this week to Gov. Deval Patrick and area legislators opposing the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act.

"Visually intrusive and offensive." That was the verdict from many Milford Haven town councillors this week as they discussed proposals for a new wind farm on the banks of the haven waterway. The debate was sparked by a letter from Pembroke design company director Gareth Scourfield to the council objecting to the planning application by renewable energy developer Infinergy for a wind farm situated on the brownfield site between Milford Haven and Llanstadwell.

Supporters and opponents of plans to build wind farms in Cheshire will have been keen spectators of a heated debate in the House of Commons. Peter Luff MP introduced a ten-minute rule bill on the proximity of wind turbines to homes which has gained backing from Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall and Eddisbury MP Stephen O'Brien. The bill, which is not expected to become law but may be considered by future government, is designed to create a 2km ‘buffer-zone' around any 125m commercial wind turbines.