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Energy Policy or USA
Germany must shield its consumers from paying too much of the cost of its ambitious switch from nuclear power and fossil fuels towards renewable energy, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.
The IEA also said that Germany, with Europe's biggest economy, should make greater use of natural gas to smoothe the transition.
Feds give wind farm a pass if turbine blades kill endangered condors
May 24, 2013 by Louis Sahagun in Los Angeles Times
May 24, 2013 by Louis Sahagun in Los Angeles Times
In granting a right-of-way, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, with approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will shield Alta Windpower Development from prosecution if a condor is fatally injured at its 2,300-acre site near the high-desert town of Mojave during the projected 30-year lifetime of the project.
The powerful Danish wind industry in the last six years received over 80 billion, with the bulk of the money going to project owners and investors. At the same time, Danish electricity consumers paid $4.6 billion in so-called PSO charges last year for wind power. That figure has skyrocketed by 270 percent over the past five years.
Robert Arthur Reed, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty in federal court in Casper to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Four other co-defendants have entered earlier guilty pleas. ...An indictment alleges that they hired phone solicitors to make cold calls to investors, urging them to invest in wind farms by falsely claiming they were being constructed jointly by private investors and the U.S. government.
The overall direction of the market, however, has been down. You can get a sense of the amount of money that has been lost by investors from the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, which tracks the performance of publicly traded green energy stocks ranging from solar and wind to rare earth minerals and water companies. The market value of the companies in the index has fallen from a peak level of $231 billion in late December 2007 to about $108 billion today, a decline of 53 percent.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
USA]
Wind power's grip on Augusta weakening
May 21, 2013 by Naomi Schalit and John Christie in The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting
May 21, 2013 by Naomi Schalit and John Christie in The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting
Armed with the signatures of the majority of residents in their townships and plantations, they went to ask lawmakers to pass a bill to give them back the right to influence how the land in their communities was used.
That right, they said, had been taken away.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Maine]
There has also been a resurgence of cheap coal, considered a dirtier energy source, abetted by a market failure in the European carbon emission trade.
An oversupply in the right-to-pollute certificates has seen their price fall from an envisioned 15-18 euros per tonne of CO2 to just two to three euros -- making coal plants an economically attractive option once more.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Germany]
Energy bills are rising so steeply that they could overtake mortgage repayments in parts of Britain in just five years' time, the chief executive of supplier, First Utility, has claimed.
utility bill. Analysis by First Utility shows that UK dual-fuel bills have risen by an average of 8.5pc a year over the last five years to reach current levels of £1,420.
Wind energy permitting process among new NC laws
May 18, 2013 by The Associated Press in The Daily Reflector
May 18, 2013 by The Associated Press in The Daily Reflector
The legislation sets parameters for permit applications that include public hearings so opponents can raise concerns. State regulators could deny an application if a project could adversely affect the environment, private landowners or military operations.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
North Carolina]
According to the project's final EIS, the geographic limits of the Grand Canyon condor population as determined by FWS overlap the project's proposed footprint. Condor can fly up to 160 miles a day in searching for food, and the Grand Canyon "experimental" population is well within that range of the Mohave County Wind Farm.
Can wind turbines make you sick? No easy answers as turbines pop up around the world
May 17, 2013 in Latitude News
May 17, 2013 in Latitude News
After years of complaints about noise and health effects, on May 21, 2013 residents of Falmouth, MA will vote on whether or not to tear down both of the town's wind turbines.
Siemens blade crashes at Ocotillo Wind Farm
May 17, 2013 by Mark DelFranco in North American Windpower
May 17, 2013 by Mark DelFranco in North American Windpower
NAW has learned that a blade belonging to a Siemens SWT-2.3-108 wind turbine came crashing to the ground at the 265 MW Ocotillo Wind Farm in the early morning hours of May 16. No one was injured.
A spokesperson from Pattern Energy, which owns and operates Ocotillo, corroborated the incident.
Wind Energy's Shadow: Turbines Drag Down Power Potential
May 16, 2013 by David LaGesse in National Geographic
May 16, 2013 by David LaGesse in National Geographic
In several recent published studies, Adams and other researchers have explored the issue of turbines stealing energy from the wind, creating drag or a "wind shadow" of air slowed by the spinning blades. Each turbine added to a particular landscape captures less energy. "You reach a point that if you add any more turbines, you get no more energy," Adams said.
Also filed under [
Technology|
USA]
Renewable energy initiative approved for signature gathering
May 16, 2013 by Yuxing Zheng in The Oregonian
May 16, 2013 by Yuxing Zheng in The Oregonian
An initiative that would allow utilities to count all hydroelectric power toward renewable energy requirements was approved this week for signature gathering. The initiative seeks to alter renewable portfolio standards approved in 2007 ...The law prohibits large utilities from counting hydroelectric power generated by dams built before 1995 towards the standard.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Oregon]
Farmers and rural homeowners in Northern Colorado on Wednesday added their voices to a statewide chorus calling on Gov. Hickenlooper to veto a bill certain to raise their electric bills.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Colorado]
LePage also is displeased that the bill ignores a study by Woodcock's office meant to reconsider the state's ambitious wind energy goals and shift the priority to lowering electricity rates.
Wind power policy is too big an issue to tackle in the bill, said John Cleveland, D-Auburn, Senate chair of the committee.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Maine]
Southern CEO: Renewable energy still not competitive
May 16, 2013 by Dave Williams in Atlanta Business Chronicle
May 16, 2013 by Dave Williams in Atlanta Business Chronicle
Renewable power will not get a major share of Southern Co.’s energy portfolio anytime soon, even as the Atlanta-based utility makes forays into wind and solar power, CEO Tom Fanning said Thursday.
“It’s going to remain a niche for some time,” Fanning said during a luncheon speech to the Atlanta Press Club.
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Energy Policy|
Georgia]
DOE to recast landmark 20% wind energy report; Study looks back, ahead
May 15, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower
May 15, 2013 by Mark Del Franco in North American Windpower
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Program is revisiting the conclusions from its 2008 study that contemplated the technological and regulatory road map for the U.S. wind industry to achieve 20% wind energy by 2030.
"What it boils down to is this: If you electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that is OK," said Tim Eicher, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement agent based in Cody, who helped prosecute the PacifiCorp power line case.
By not enforcing the law, the administration provides little incentive for companies to build wind farms where there are fewer birds.
Latest cleantech funding woes spark fears of industry slide
May 11, 2013 by Peter Delevett in Mercury News
May 11, 2013 by Peter Delevett in Mercury News
The problem, he said, is that those big investment firms tend to focus on mature companies that are generating significant revenue, and there are few of those in cleantech. Meanwhile, more government investment seems increasingly far off as congressional Republicans demand answers about the failure of Fisker Automotive.