Dunbar could be the first town in the county to be powered totally by wind as £30 million plans for turbines are set to come before council planning chiefs. Eco-power bosses hope to wipe out the town’s ‘carbon footprint’ making Dunbar – which has well over 6,000 residents – environmentally friendly by 2008.

ELLENSBURG - A 500-square-mile zone on Kittitas County's east end was approved by county commissioners on Wednesday as an area pre-identified as compatible for wind farm development. The zone stretches along the Columbia River and the county's southeast border. Final approval of the new zone is expected to come 3 p.m. July 19 when final documents are signed. Commissioner Chairman Alan Crankovich on Thursday said commissioners approved the addition of wording to the zone that would indicate that wind farm developers also must gain approval for their projects from private, state and federal landowners in the area. This includes the U.S. Defense Department that owns Yakima Training Center lands administered by the U.S. Army and Fort Lewis. "I'm not as optimistic as my fellow commissioners are on the availability of state, federal and military lands for wind farms," Crankovich said. He said he doesn't want creation of the zone to give wind farm companies "false hope" that they can easily site a project in the zone.

An interview with Royer for The Courier-News about the meeting that had been set for Monday afternoon was cancelled Monday morning. Carol Gieske, president of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, said, "It was a closed meeting, so he is unable to discuss what transpired."

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.

Tories backed its nuclear message with a call for on-shore wind farm projects to be frozen.

The Wind Power Ethics Group and the state Department of Environmental Conservation say the town Planning Board should not have accepted a draft environmental impact statement for the St. Lawrence Wind Farm. Judy Drabicki, a Dexter attorney representing the ethics group, a citizens' organization that has opposed wind farm development, said the developer has not sufficiently identified impacts because studies listed as part of the review have not been completed, including those for wetlands.

The permit application for the offshore wind farm slated for the North Sea has been approved. Now the partnership Evelop International and Ballast Nedam Concessies has the exclusive right to develop Scheveningen Buiten. Rijkswaterstaat Noordzee announced the approval includes the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The wind farm, Scheveningen Buiten, which will be built outside the 12-mile zone off the seaside resort of Scheveningen, approximately 30 kilometers (km) from the coast, is expected to be finished by 2011. It will generate more than 300 megawatts (MW).

Westborough, Massachusetts [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Evolution Markets LLC completed an auction of renewable energy certificates (RECs) for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), a public economic-development agency that manages the state's Renewable Energy Trust, for an average price of $53.10 [per MWh].

In 11 letters sent to Ridgeline Energy - which has proposed 492-feet high wind turbines in the area - the administration warns that the structures would exceed height standards unless they were reduced to between 85 feet and 175 feet depending on the location.

The zoning board of appeals declared two town-owned wind turbines a nuisance in a 4-1 vote Thursday night. The decision overturned Building Commissioner Eladio Gore's determination that noise from the turbines did not constitute a nuisance. Turbine abutter Neil Andersen, of 211 Blacksmith Shop Road, appealed that decision in November, and the board closed that hearing last week.

Realtor Nadine Krasnow of Falmouth Fine Properties said she has no doubt that the turbines have affected property values ..."In my opinion, it's had a noticeably chilling affect and it has definitely become more difficult to sell houses there; and the reason is, if people have other choices, which they do, why are they going to buy in a place where value has gone down and it's unclear what will happen in the future?"

Town officials are unsure whether Falmouth will have to pay back nearly $5 million in federal stimulus funds that the town received in 2010 to construct the Wind 2 turbine. When taking into account the debt amassed by the two turbines, the cost of removing them and service contract is between about $12.3 and $15.2 million.

A technical examination is being carried out to try to establish how a large wind turbine near Maas, close to the Ardara area of Co Donegal, came crashing down on Thursday. While winds were heavy at the time it was nonetheless understood that these turbines were engineered to withstand such conditions.

Eastern Southland farmers whose land TrustPower is eying up for a wind farm were reluctant to speak about the proposed project yesterday because of confidentiality agreements. TrustPower said earlier a site at Otaraia, about 15km south-east of Gore and between Mataura and Clinton, had been monitored for nine months and showed good potential for a wind farm. Several farmers who own land being monitored said they could not comment because of confidentiality agreements.

He said: "There is no change to the day to day navigation rights at the site. "In releasing this public notice we are fulfilling a legal requirement placed on us by the CrownEstate. "The notice means that boats cannot legally sail into the turbines themselves, which is something most try to avoid anyway for obvious safety reasons. "Before the site was there ships could pass freely through those waters. Now they will be required to stay away from the coordinates occupied by the turbines." Any objectors have around five weeks to voice their concerns. Dave Dobson, chief fishery officer for theCumbria Sea Fisheries Committee, said: "To restrict navigation to fishing vessels within the site would be a total disaster for the trade in the area if the plans are approved."

That the German government is facing a massive budget shortfall for projects aimed at transforming the country into a model of alternative energy and environmental friendliness is hardly new. The European cap-and-trade system has for months been sliding into inconsequence as prices for CO2 emissions have stubbornly remained below €5 ($6.47) per ton.

A joint proposal to cut the costs of increasing Germany's renewable energy capacity has been presented by the federal economy and environment ministers. If the measures are implemented, renewable energy association BEE fears a massive market collapse for investment in renewables.

PLANS to build one of the world’s biggest windfarms across vast swathes of Lewis have been dealt a devastating blow from a government agency. Officials at Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) have condemned the controversial scheme and claim aspects of the developer’s approach are ’seriously flawed’. The board of the quango will meet tomorrow to finalise its representations to the government over the massive scheme. In a damning report, SNH officers deride Lewis Windpower’s (LWP) claims that building 181 giant turbines, 50 miles of roads and pylons, substations and quarries across the environmentally protected moor would not seriously hit bird species, including golden eagles, or affect their peatland habitat. Officials recommend that objections are lodged against the scheme and condemn LWP’s assessments. LWP is also criticised for its ‘ seriously flawed’ interpretation of the Habitats Regulations, which legally govern developments that can harm wildlife and environmentally protected land.

Plans to build four of the biggest wind turbines in Britain near Watford village will be discussed by residents next month. The 164-metre giants proposed by energy firm Gamesa would stand alongside the M1 on land between Long Bucky and Watford. But the proposals have been met with derision by a parish councillor, who claims that the turbines will pose a number of safety hazards.