Dr John Constable, the director of REF, said: "Uncontrollable and heavily subsidised generation such as wind-power has made the UK electricity system into a costly and dysfunctional joke. "High winds, low winds – whatever the weather, the consumer suffers. It's almost the only thing about wind that is reliable."

Impact on Economy Energy Policy UK

While grid operators plan for intermittency in wind power, the latest drop coincided with a Europe-wide squeeze on natural gas, nuclear outages and a fire at a key power interconnector with France. Britain has already turned to coal-burning stations to fill the energy shortfall, but there's a gap emerging there. By 2024, there will be no more coal stations left, and five of the UK's eight nuclear plants will also be halted permanently.

Energy Policy UK

Europe is showing the folly of trying to purge CO2 from the economy. No matter how heavily subsidized, renewables can’t replace fossil fuels in a modern economy. Households and businesses get stuck with higher energy bills even as CO2 emissions increase. Europe’s problems are a warning to the U.S., if only Democrats would heed it..

Energy Policy Europe USA

Energy prices have surged to 11 times above normal levels – a fresh record high – as a crunch in gas supply, low wind speeds and power station closures pile unprecedented pressure on Britain’s grid. ...Adam Lewis, partner at energy trading company Hartree Solutions, said some respite may come on Friday, when wind generation is forecast to pick up from about 1.5GW to 8GW, but added that forecasts are notoriously inaccurate.

Energy Policy UK

In total, conventional energy sources comprised 56% of the total electricity fed into Germany's grid in the first half of 2021. Coal was the leader out of the conventional energy sources, comprising over 27% of Germany's electricity. Wind power's contribution dropped significantly compared to the previous year — from 29% to 22%.

Energy Policy Germany

The UK has faced a “perfect storm” of power plant outages and low wind speeds that has forced energy prices higher despite demand “not being very high at the moment”, according to Rajiv Gogna, a partner at LCP Energy Analytics.

Energy Policy UK

Depleted natural gas inventories and low wind speeds have led to a surge in electricity prices across Europe, putting pressure on governments as consumers protest against surging power bills ahead of the winter heating season.  

Energy Policy Europe Germany

Power costs are closely tied to gas prices, which this evening hit 134.5p per therm in the UK - compared to less than 30p per therm one year ago. Electricity prices reached an all-time high of £240 per megawatt hour on Friday and were trading at £219.46 per MwH on the N2EX exchange on Monday morning. The squeeze was worsened by a slump in wind output in the UK. It dropped as low as 474 megawatts, compared to a record of 14,286 megawatts on May 21, according to analysis by Bloomberg, as a three-day heatwave settled across much of England and Wales. Wind now provides about 20pc of the UK’s electricity throughout the year, but this varies hugely day by day.

Energy Policy UK

[S]ome fear that this project and others in the planning stage could also irreparably harm Massachusetts fishing and lobstering industries in the vicinity of these turbine sites. But that didn’t stop the Biden administration, as part of its aggressive offshore wind and renewable-energy agenda, from issuing final permits for Vineyard Wind in May. It’s evident that not all green-conscious activists believe wind power’s the optimum clean-energy solution.

Impact on Wildlife Offshore Wind Energy Policy USA Massachusetts

Renewable energy supporters want Gov. Chris Sununu to sign an executive order that would lead to more offshore wind development in New Hampshire, as neighboring states forge ahead with similar steps and after a bill on the issue stalled in the state legislature this year. Sununu has lately been a vocal supporter of wind as a climate change solution but hasn’t issued the mandates many other East Coast states have used.

Offshore Wind Energy Policy New Hampshire

Australia’s charge into large-scale wind and solar is faltering, with investment in new projects drying up and construction jobs in the industry diving. Figures from the Clean Energy Council for the second quarter of 2021 reveal three new projects across the country reached the financial commitment stage, the equal second-lowest number for any quarter since the start of 2017.

Energy Policy Australia

A Treasury review of the costs of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 has been delayed since the spring. There are concerns the analysis highlights that the poorest households will be hit the hardest by the ambition, which will involve policies such as stripping out gas boilers and switching to electric or hydrogen cars. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is said to be increasingly concerned about a looming crisis over the cost of living for British households, as the country faces the triple threat of rocketing energy bills.

Energy Policy UK

The battle to control Ohio’s energy mix has been noisy and partisan since 2008, when the Legislature adopted an alternative energy standard.

Energy Policy Ohio

But the bill, headed for a Senate vote this week, falls far short of President Joe Biden’s pledge to transform the nation’s heavily fossil-fuel powered economy into a clean-burning one and stop climate-damaging emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035. Notably, the deal omits mention of a Clean Electricity Standard, a key element of Biden’s climate plan that would require the electric grid to replace fossil fuels with renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydropower.

Energy Policy USA

The state government has set the goal of building 1,000 additional wind turbines. According to Environment Minister Thekla Walker (Greens), half of this should be realized via the state forest - the government itself can become active here. "As the largest forest owner, the state of Baden-Württemberg has a special responsibility to support these goals," writes Hauk. ForstBW is responsible for the management of over 300,000 hectares of state forest. According to ForstBW, almost 40 percent of the country's area consists of forest.

Impact on Landscape Energy Policy Germany

Cingolani told reporters that ministers meeting in southern Italy could not agree on two disputed issues and that these would now have to be discussed when G20 heads of state and government hold a summit in Rome in October. He said negotiations with China, Russia and India had proved especially difficult.

Energy Policy Europe

Ministers had been due to announce a "heat and buildings strategy" next week which would set out how Britain will decarbonise central heating systems in homes and offices - which combined make up a third of emissions. But Sky News understands a Whitehall standoff over the cost of the plans means this is now not expected until at least September.

Energy Policy UK

the lawsuit is being welcomed by some state lawmakers who argue the rapid review process curbs the ability of the state Department of Environmental Conservation to fully review energy projects and threatens farmland and the natural habitat of endangered species of wildlife. “It is the ultimate irony that in their rush to ‘save the environment,’ ORES and the Cuomo administration are violating a state law that is the cornerstone of New York’s environmental protection efforts," said state Sen. George Borrello, R-Chautauqua County. "That contradiction speaks volumes about the true motives behind this so-called ‘green energy’ agenda."

Legal Energy Policy New York

Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, explained on the House floor why Ohio's suburban residents want wind turbines in their state but not in their backyards. "They think it’s just fine to put these monstrosities all over rural Ohio, to ruin the landscape in rural Ohio, to create 600-foot-tall structures with moving parts where the blades break and the fires start and the birds and bats are chopped to smithereens," Seitz said. 

Energy Policy Ohio

Westminster sources said ... that any move towards a carbon border tax would have to consider the implications it would have with major trading partners, such as the US, and how problematic it would be for post-Brexit Britain to go out and strike trade deals. Ministers are increasingly at odds over the best way to ensure the public pays for the carbon emissions they produce, with the Treasury in a stand-off with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and No 10. One source said: “There is a civil war raging between departments as to how the Government can meet its commitments.”

Energy Policy UK