The Mortimers profit $10,000 a year for hosting their two turbines but said they would happily return the money if it would put an end to the heart problems, tinnitus and dizzy spells they experience which Mr Mortimer attributed to the turbines.

Mr Holloway says TrustPower has declined to proceed with the wind farm as approved in November 2003, despite being given a deadline of September 2010 to begin substantial construction work. "The TrustPower project comprising 20 x 100-metre high wind turbines was initially approved more than seven years ago," he says.

A company hired to do line work on a Makara wind farm had failed to get the relevant information on safely using a machine, which later toppled killing one man and seriously injuring another.

Trustpower has sold a parcel of carbon credits from its Tararua wind farm to Electrabel, a European energy company. The price has not been disclosed but if it was at the sort of price prevailing at the high-quality end of the international Kyoto market, the deal would be worth about $7 million. ...Belgian-based Electrabel generates about four times as much electricity as New Zealand does, from a mix of nuclear and fossil-fuel plants The latter give rise to obligations under Europe's emissions trading scheme to which the 228,000 ERUs bought from Trustpower will be applied. It leaves Trustpower with another 1.1 million to sell.

Environment group Save Central has received an estimated $200,000 from the public since launching its national media campaign on Sunday. The money raised almost doubles the group's entire campaign funding, generated since its inception late last year. Spokesman Graye Shattky said the exact amount of funding generated since Sunday was not known, although it was close to, or possibly more than, $200,000. "That's what it cost us to get to this point, fighting Project Hayes in court. Now we are in a position where we have the same amount, if not more, to take us into the next phase," Mr Shattky said. He said Save Central will continue to campaign over energy issues and threatened landscapes after Project Hayes with any leftover funding.

EQ regional spokesman Graham Fuller says state schools "are places for teaching and learning". "They are not to be seen as advocates or otherwise for development applications, individual products, services or commercial enterprise," he said in a statement.

Craig Rodger and Inga Smith from the university's Physics Department say offsetting aircraft emissions by planting trees would require an increase of one-third in the size of New Zealand's forests. This would be equivalent to covering 15 Stewart Islands in new growth - or building $10 billion worth of wind turbines, eight combined-cycle gas-turbine plants, or 248 million energy-efficient light bulbs.

A company involved in developing wind farms in Australia and Europe yesterday confirmed it is investigating the potential for a $390 million wind farm near the Southland township of Wyndham capable of supplying electricity to about 74,000 homes. The proposed Slopedown wind farm would carry up to 50 3MW turbines on farmland 15km east of Wyndham. Wanaka-based Wind Prospect CWP (NZ) Ltd released details of its plans, which it admits are in their early stages, but it hopes to be generating power from the site in less than four years.

Pyrenees Council has approved a wind farm for Lexton, north-west of Ballarat. Windpower wants to build 19 turbines in the area at a cost of $28 million. It is the second wind farm in the shire, with 100 of the 128 turbines from Acciona's Waubra wind farm within the municipality.

Construction of stage one of the Mahinerangi wind farm will begin in September, with the first power expected to be produced in February, TrustPower announced yesterday. ...The company has resource consent to erect up to 100 turbines on the Mahinerangi site and generate 200MW of electricity.

"It is considered that the nature of the proposed wind farm development will adversely and unreasonably impact on the health and amenity of the locality through noise and vibration caused by the operation and the hours or operation of the proposed wind farm development," the panel stated in council minutes.

Contact Energy's warning underlying profit this year could fall up to 33 per cent because of lower wholesale electricity prices came with a sting - those prices could stay low all year. Contact Energy's shares fell 13c to $5.67 continuing a slide of more than 20 per cent this year. ...In January, Contact warned the unusual mix of operating conditions would see earnings before interest, tax, deprecation, amortisation and financial instruments would fall by 20-23 per cent for the full year.

Dr Tim Finnigan at the University of Sydney has formed a company, BioPower Systems, to commercialise the technologies. The wave energy system is called “bioWave” and has long, vertical blades that sway back and forth. Dr Finnigan says that it, “Is the only wave energy system that captures a wide swath of incident wave energy without using a large rigid structure. It is also the only such device that absorbs energy over the full water depth and continually self-orients with the wave direction”.

The shelving of two windfarm projects was a commercial decision and could not be blamed on federal government spending policies, Environment Minister Ian Campbell said on Friday.

Moyne Shire Council voted to support a $145 million wind farm in Hawkesdale if no turbines were closer than 500 metres from adjoining property boundaries. At yesterday’s meeting seven of the nine councillors backed a submission to the state planning minister that supported the Gamesa Energy wind farm but with a number of conditions. Shire officers recommended access tracks be moved further from tracks used by adjoining landowners and that noise management and environmental management plans be carried out. Cr Brenda Hampson led a move to have wind turbines moved to at least 500 metres from adjoining property boundaries.

Wellington Shire says it supports wind farms, despite voting against an application for the Devon North area this week.

Mayor Pat Toohey says the council voted unanimously last night to write to Planning Minister Justin Madden to express its disappointment. He says the shire's residents have concerns about the farms which the State Government did not take into account.

Since the Northern Argus went to press, a Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council Development Assessment Panel meeting to discuss a wind monitoring tower proposed for the Skilly Hills, south west of Watervale, has been deferred. The meeting was to have been held on Friday, May 14, but was deferred due to lack of a quorum - a new date has not yet been set.

A city property developer is calling on the Palmerston North City Council to obey to its own rules. Building restrictions have been placed on a subdivision being built in Pacific Drive so it didn’t affect Turitea Valley residents’ view of the skyline, Brian Green Property Group owner Brian Green said. But the council supports the building of wind turbines in the Turitea Reserve, he said. “It’s not consistent.”

Scientists are becoming uneasy about New Zealand's rising greenhouse gas emissions, and hopes of reaching a 2012 target are fading.