ACROSS Britain, cities are plunged into darkness. In London, the Underground grinds to a halt, leaving panicked commuters stranded in oppressively hot carriages. In office blocks, lifts stop operating and the air-conditioning shuts down. Employees swelter in stifling conditions. This is not the postapocalyptic vision of some film-maker, but a realistic scenario as Britain grapples with a looming energy crisis. The statistics are frightening. In only eight years, demand for energy could outstrip supply by 23% at peak times, according to a study by the consultant Logica CMG. The loss to the economy could be £108 billion each year.

The trend of companies proposing offshore energy facilities around Long Island makes Robert Weltner anxious.

The building of a third nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast could be forced through as part of a major Government shake-up of the planning system, environmental campaigners warned last night. A White Paper is set to be released by the Government next week which is expected to outline plans to overhaul the planning process for new developments. The Government is likely to publish eight national statements of policy - relating to nuclear power plants, nuclear waste disposal plants, airports, motorways, waste incinerators, wind farms, ports and reservoirs - which will give the green light to site-specific projects considered to be of national importance.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Apple trees have been planted, wood fences restored and power lines buried in recent years to transform the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg to the way it looked when Union and Confederate forces clashed on farmers' fields in 1863. But preservationists now worry that the national military park in Pennsylvania's picturesque fruit belt soon may be in the shadow of high-powered transmission lines. It is not just Gettysburg that worries them as a result of a 2005 law that gave federal regulators new authority over where power lines are built. They fear the law could place hundreds of national and state parks and other protected sites in the Northeast and Southwest in or near the path of massive power lines.

Concerns have been raised over plans to put up two wind turbines in Shropshire. South Staffordshire Water is considering putting up two 400ft (122m) high turbines at Chelmarsh Reservoir, near Bridgnorth. It plans to put up a test rig to see if there is enough wind to make the scheme worthwhile. Bridgnorth councillor Elizabeth Yeomans said she would need to be convinced that it was worth sacrificing a beautiful landscape for the turbines. South Staffordshire Water has not yet submitted a planning application. Keith Marshall, from the firm, said the company welcomed consultation with the people of Chelmarsh and added that nothing had yet been decided. He said it was important to place the turbines close to its customers, adding: “To get the benefit from renewable energy, the closer you can site your usage to your generation, the more effective and efficient it is.”

Several people rose to ask the subcommittee to carefully consider the issue, using independent consultants if necessary, particularly since so many parents had fears that the sound might be audible from Bournedale Elementary School.

The authority received 14 letters of objection from worried residents, and Dennington Parish Council and Suffolk Preservation Society also raised concerns with regards to noise, proximity to a listed building and the height and scale of the turbine in open countryside.

"At the moment we do seem to be going in circles, there is the consultation that is happening," he said. "Overall we just need to know I think whether ratepayers that are for it and those that are going to be a turbine host and approve of it, they just want to know an outcome.

Plans to build a vast wind farm in East Ayrshire have hit a major stumbling block with claims it would cause chaos in Scotland’s skies. The National Air Traffic Services claim engineering giant AMEC’s proposed site in Dalmellington would disrupt hundreds of flights to and from Scotland every week. NATS, which controls air traffic at 15 of the UK’s biggest airports, say the turbines would interfere with their radar equipment.

Plans to build 16 wind turbines across a historic bridleway could decimate a local stables business. Up to 120 horses and ponies use Three Shires Way at Nun Wood, near Lavendon, Bozeat and Harrold but, if approved, the 125m high turbines would surround the animals. Milton Keynes Council is currently listening to objections to Npower’s application, including the concerns of the family-run Lower Farm Stables, on Castle Road. There are fears that horse riders would no longer be able to use the bridleway as the noise and light disturbance from the 90m blades would create a potential safety hazard. The British Horse Society recommend that turbines should be no nearer than 375m from bridleways but at Nun Wood some would be as close as 215m.

A BBC document submitted to Allerdale council estimates that the television service in up to 1,532 homes could be affected by the plans, including signals from the transmitter at Caldbeck.

Controversial windfarm plans could leave Fylde coast residents with falling property prices and a ruined view, a councillor today claimed. And Coun Ron Shewan is demanding that Wyre Council opposes the scheme which would put windfarms only three miles off Fleetwood. He said: “We have one of the most beautiful seafronts you could get and it would be a detriment from the environmental point because of the sea view.”

Markey said that the wind strength and consistency was "favorable" for a commercial scale project, but the sound requirements set by the state Department of Environmental Protection limited the size of the turbines to 750 kilowatt (kW) and 900 kW models.

The way of the future may not be what some locals are looking towards,at least not in their back yards. A public meeting on Thursday gave people the opportunity to check out the plans for a wind turbine in Port Blake,behind the water treatment plant. This is currently in a resource assessment feasibility stage. If implemented,it would be the first municipal water treatment plant to generate electricity from wind power.

"There's a direct problem with bats and birds of prey, but it's very difficult to get solid knowledge because the people who put the environmental statements together for the wind power developers underplay the situation and underestimate the ornithological and ecological interest in the area. They say, ‘no evidence' but, actually, the evidence hasn't been gathered.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation today told U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reject Cape Wind, the wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound. The state's top environmental official quickly criticized the ruling, saying the panel overstepped its authority, and the developer voiced disagreement. Opponents of the project called the decision a "great victory."

RICHMOND — Formal respondents in Highland New Wind Development’s case pending before the State Corporation Commission are adding to a long list of concerns expressed already by a variety of state agencies. Among those who have weighed in recently are the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which expresses serious doubts about environmental reviews conducted thus far.

Englander and Scott Darling, the district wildlife biologist for ANR, both noted during the heated public hearing on Monday night that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service already had issued a migratory bird permit to First Wind; the permit being sought for the bat takings is now in draft stage and Secretary Deb Markowitz ultimately will decide the matter.

A last-minute letter from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prompted the Riverside County Planning Commission to postpone a vote Wednesday on dozens of 327-foot wind turbines proposed for land north of Palm Springs and west of Desert Hot Springs. While many property owners spoke out against the project and commissioners unanimously decided to delay the vote until May 16, most commissioners expressed support for the project.

A federal court will hear a lawsuit 24 property owners have filed over Calumet County's wind turbine ordinance. The plaintiffs, who oppose the wind turbines, contend the county's ordinance as amended in October is unconstitutional. They allege the ordinance, which requires 1,000 feet between wind turbines and homes, schools and churches but not businesses, fails to protect all property owners equally. At the same time, they contend the 1,000-foot setback impinges on adjacent properties, constituting a "taking" of property. Wind farm developers say the changes the plaintiffs want would thwart their plans and overstep the county's legal authority.