Resource Documents: Italy (6 items)

RSSItaly

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Seismic noise by wind farms: A case study from the Virgo Gravitational Wave Observatory, Italy

Author:  Saccorotti, Gilberto; Piccinini, Davide; Cauchie, Léna; and Fiori, Irene

[Abstract] We present analyses of the noise wave field in the vicinity of Virgo, the Italian–French gravitational wave observatory located close to Pisa, Italy, with special reference to the vibrations induced by a nearby wind farm. The spectral contribution of the wind turbines is investigated using (1) onsite measurements, (2) correlation of spectral amplitudes with wind speed, (3) directional properties determined via multichannel measurements, and (4) attenuation of signal amplitude with distance. Among the different spectral peaks thus discriminated, the one at frequency 1.7 Hz is associated with the greatest power, and under particular conditions it can be observed at distances as large as 11 km from the wind farm. The spatial decay of amplitudes exhibits a complicated pattern, which we interpret in terms of the combination of direct surface waves and body waves refracted at a deep (~800 m) interface between the Plio-Pleistocenic marine, fluvial, and lacustrine sediments and the Miocene carbonate basement. We develop a model for wave attenuation that allows determining the amplitude of the radiation from individual turbines, which is estimated on the order of 300-400 µs⁻¹/√Hz for wind speeds over the 8–14 m/s range. On the basis of this model, we then develop a predictive relationship for assessing the possible impact of future wind farm projects.

Gilberto Saccorotti and Davide Piccinini
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Pisa Via U, della Faggiola, 32-56126, Pisa, Italy. saccorotti@pi.ingv.it davide.piccinini@ingv.it

Léna Cauchie*
UCD School of Geological Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. lena.cauchie@gmail.com
Also at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Pisa, Italy.

Irene Fiori
European Gravitational Observatory, Via E. Amaldi 56021, S.Stefano a Macerata, Cascina (PI), Italy. irene.fiori@ego-gw.it

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; April 2011; v. 101; no. 2; p. 568-578; DOI: 10.1785/0120100203

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Are Green Jobs Real Jobs? The Case of Italy

Author:  Lavecchia, Luciano; and Stagnaro, Carlo

In this paper we have reviewed the available evidence on green jobs, finding that no conclusive evidence is possible regarding the net effect of green subsidies on total employment. According to the existing literature, though, the net occupational effect of green subsidies may be positive insofar as a country is a technology-producer and –exporter. Italy is neither, which leaves room for a presumption of a negative net impact on employment. Moreover, some studies – most notably Calzada et al. (2009) – find that the net occupational effect may be negative in Spain, which is a technology-producer and –exporter.

In order to assess the situation in Italy, we have first of all estimated the amount of subsidies that have been spent or committed on renewables. To do so we have assumed the country will meet its 2020 “maximum potential” for wind and PV power, as calculated by the Italian Government (2007). This is likely to be an overestimate, leading to overestimating the number jobs that will be created. Then, we have reviewed the existing estimates on the actual number of green jobs. Even though we feel that virtually all these studies overestimate the number of green jobs, we have taken them as a given, in order to use them as a basis for our projection of job creation by 2020. With these data, we have been able to estimate the total stock of capital embodied in the wind and PV capacity that will be on field in 2020, and hence to estimate the average stock of capital per worker.

Finally, we have compared the average stock of capital per worker in the RES with the average stock of capital per worker in the industry and the entire economy, finding an average ratio of 6.9 and 4.8, respectively. To put it another way, the same amount of capital that creates one job in the green sector, would create 6.9 or 4.8 if invested in industry or the economy in general, respectively – although differences exist between RESs themselves, with wind power more likely to create jobs than PV power. This fact is particularly relevant because we didn’t even consider the non-trivial value of the renewable energy produced, but we focused on pure subsidies. If we had considered the energy value, the average stock of capital per worker would be even higher. Since subsidies are forcibly taken away from the economic cycle and allocated for political purposes, it is especially important to have a clear vision of what consequences they bring.

This does not necessarily mean that the creation of one green job would destroy 7 jobs in the industry. This just suggests what is obvious by anecdotal and financial evidence, i.e. that the green industry is a capital-intensive, not a labor-intensive, industry. It is no surprise, therefore, that green investments generate fewer jobs than investments in other sectors of the economy, and most notably the industrial sector. This does not even necessarily mean that the green economy is a net loss of resources, although there is some evidence even for this.

The only scope, and we dare to say the only result, of our study is to show that green investments are an ineffective policy for job creation. Regardless to their other merits, that we have not reviewed in this paper, to the extent that the “green deal” is aimed at creating employment or purported as anti-crisis or stimulus policy, it is a wrong policy choice.

Istituto Bruno Leoni, May 2010

IBL is grateful to GAS INTENSIVE Soc. Consortile a r.l. – Milano – for its support of this study.

Download original document: “Are Green Jobs Real Jobs?”

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Real-time wind production — various regions

Author:  National Wind Watch

Mark Richey Woodworking, Newburyport, Massachusetts: hourly, daily, monthly production of a 600-kW turbine since June 2009 (100% daily generation would be 14,400 kWh)

University of Delaware, Newark: current power output (kW) of 2,000-kW turbine

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Charter of Palermo

Author:  Palermo Wind Energy Conference

After a two day international conference in Palermo, the representatives of twenty important cultural and environmental organizations, artists and academics, in the presence of Honourable former President of the French Republic, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, at the invitation of the Honourable President of the Sicily Region, express their great concern about the ongoing devastation of the European rural landscape caused by wind power plants.

The European landscape in its beauty is a treasure of European culture, and has been entrusted for centuries from one generation to another. It is the responsibility of our generation to leave it not devastated by industrial instruments.

The beauty of the European landscape is not only a cultural heritage, but also a space of remembrance and identification. To destroy the rural landscape would also mean to deprive the rural regions of their economic base tourism.

We draw attention to these facts knowing that the lobby of wind power plant investors is very strong and aggressive, and great sums of money are involved.

We are aware that ways have to be found to contribute to the production of non-carbonic energies. But we are convinced that wind power plants are not the right solution.

Considering all this, we ask, with great concern, that the European Commission, National Governments, Parliaments, Regional and Local Authorities, take immediate steps to safeguard the European landscape.

We recommend that the European Union establish a Moratorium on the installation of wind power plants, in order to take adequate time to achieve the following objectives:

1. Strict rules must be approved for the defence of biodiversity, strictly banning the installation of wind power plants inside the boundaries of the protected areas like SIC, ZPS, National and Regional Parks, with sufficient setbacks;
2. The member states must identify areas of sensitive landscapes with particular cultural or identity values, inside of which it is forbidden to construct any industrial wind power plant. This rule must also establish that no wind power plant should be visible from point of view throughout these sensitive areas.
3. Undertake a thorough study of the external and internal costs of industrial wind power plants, clarifying the relation between costs and benefits. In particular, any financial and fiscal advantages must be publicly discussed and examined by national accounting authorities in the context of any liabilities;
4. Wind power plants should not be considered as privileged industrial enterprises. They must be approved or rejected on the same terms as any other industrial development;
5. The member states of the Union commit themselves to ensure that the decisions concerning the new installation of wind power plants be conducted with maximum transparency and, according to the rules of local democracy, after a public and democratic debate, assuring open consultation with the people of the targeted area.

Finally, we implore the leaders of all nations to be deeply concerned about their constitutional responsibilities related to the impact of massive wind development on the environment, the landscape and, not least, biodiversity.

Download original document: “The Charter of Palermo”

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