‘Renewables are just not what people think they are. People think that they harmonise society with the natural world but that’s fantasy. Renewables can’t save the planet, are we going to keep letting them destroy it?’ ...Pound for pound, however, rare earths are vastly more intensive to extract and refine. To Shellenberger that, in combination with renewables’ unreliable, diffuse power, makes the entire green-energy revolution – Boris’s billions and Biden’s trillions – a vast mistake. ‘Renewables are going to have to fail, and they will fail spectacularly everywhere over the next several years, before we discover that really there’s no alternative, in terms of climate change, to doing a lot of nuclear.’

General UK

Developers of a planned sprawling Gippsland windfarm with turbines among the tallest in the country have sought an independent panel to assess and approve the project. ...Objectors claim the 250m turbines pose a fire risk and may hamper the efforts of water bombing and retardantspraying aircraft in the blazeprone part of Victoria.

General Australia

But parts on the solar farm have been starting to fail and there are no ready replacements — and the project’s owner, Kepco Solar of Alamosa LLC, tells Xcel Energy it’s becoming increasing difficult and expensive to maintain. Getting out of the power-purchase agreement, which runs through 2022, will save Xcel Energy customers millions over the next 11 years, the company says.

General Colorado

Hundreds of jobs will be created at new facility at Albany port, Cuomo says ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday that the Port of Albany would become the country's first wind tower assembly site.

General New York

Plan includes giant solar farm, hydrogen plant, data center;  Final investment decision may take place by end 2023

General Europe

The announcement that Coal Creek Station would shut down in 2022 sent shudders throughout North Dakota coal country — and sparked what wind energy advocates say is a misguided backlash against wind.  

General North Dakota

Monolith Materials’ carbon black plant near Hallam has a capacity of 14,000 tons per year. As part of a planned expansion, the company will build an anhydrous ammonia plant to use hydrogen that’s produced as a byproduct of its manufacturing process.

General Nebraska

“Men, women and children are working without even the most basic protective equipment such as gloves and face masks,” said Mark Dummett of Amnesty International, which has investigated the cobalt-mining crisis in DRC. “In one village we visited, people showed us how the water in the local stream that they drank was contaminated by the discharge of waste from a mineral processing plant.”

General Africa

Advocates believe renewable energy in Ohio and across the United States should get a boost when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January given his expressed desire to make America’s energy sector carbon-free by 2035. Yet most of the development of wind and solar farms is driven by what’s going on at the state level, and in Ohio the political climate for renewable energy has not been welcoming.

General Ohio

A proposed wind farm project in West Texas has become a potential national security issue due to its Chinese owner who has ties to the communist regime in Beijing and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), experts say. ...The first concern is that the wind farm will be generating electricity, hence, it involves critical infrastructure and poses a risk to the Texas electric grid. Potential cyberattacks on the electrical grid could disrupt power utility operations, resulting in large-scale power outages.

General Asia Texas

A Borders resident says they are “worried” about plans to build a wind farm near their home. Last month, this newspaper reported that E Power Limited will apply for planning permission to build the farm at Ditcher Law north of Oxton. But now a village resident says the proposal to build 15 wind turbines is “not really suitable” for the area.

General UK

Australia’s biggest wind farm is now all but mechanically complete. The last of the 149 turbines at the 530MW Stockyard Hill facility in central Victoria has been installed, three substations are complete and energised, and yet – more than one year after the original timetable – the facility is not producing power.

General Australia

The last two tri-county area wind farm projects in the Article 10 siting process — both with significant public opposition — have been withdrawn from the process.

General New York

Vineyard Wind LLC’s decision to push back a permitting review of the $2.8 billion offshore wind farm it plans to build near Massachusetts could delay the project by more than a year, under a ruling by the U.S. Interior Department.

General USA Massachusetts

While the cost of wind power is falling, a growing number of voters want to see less of it. They’d rather see alternatives like more hydro or even fossil fuels -- which would clash with the government’s environmental goals. A survey in November showed that only 36% were favorable about onshore wind as an energy source, down from as much as 84% in 2011. Oil’s popularity has increased to 29% from just 16% five years ago, according to Kantar’s Climate Barometer, which polled 2,085 people.

General Europe

If wind or solar farm developers want to build on your property, the Illinois Farm Bureau says don’t rush into signing a contract. The Vermilion County Farm Bureau hosted a virtual meeting Monday on how landowners can protect their rights when considering a developer’s proposal.

General Illinois

More than 20 citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan were injured in an Israeli occupation forces’ attempt to disperse them after they have gathered between the occupied villages of Majdal Shams and Masa’da in protest against the occupations scheme to set up wind turbines on their lands, SANA reporter in Quneitra said Wednesday.

General Asia

While the cost of wind power is falling, a growing number of voters want to see less of it. They’d rather see alternatives like more hydro or even fossil fuels -- which would clash with the government’s environmental goals. A survey in November showed that only 36% were favorable about onshore wind as an energy source, down from as much as 84% in 2011. Oil’s popularity has increased to 29% from just 16% five years ago, according to Kantar’s Climate Barometer, which polled 2,085 people.

General Europe

Ocean City Council was unanimous in opposing Ørsted’s Ocean Wind offshore wind turbine project after a representative made a presentation Thursday night. No formal action was taken, but the seven members were clear on opposing the wind farm in the island’s back yard, saying they don’t want the 99 800-foot-plus-tall wind turbines dotting the horizon 15 miles offshore, possibly harming the island’s tourism industry.

General Maryland

Local Druse residents in northern Israel told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Tuesday they were outraged over an Israeli effort to plant wind turbines in their agricultural fields. The locals reportedly held a protest and attempted to block IDF and other authorities from entering the area to continue working on the project which is intended to produce renewable energy.

General Asia