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Wind Watch: Industrial Wind Energy News
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These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Interior green-lights wind farm near WWII incarceration site
The Bureau of Land Management on Friday approved a huge wind project on public lands in southern Idaho that’s opposed by lawmakers and some historical preservation advocates. BLM published a record of decision for Lava Ridge, a wind farm of up to 231 turbines that’s been a priority for the agency’s renewable energy push under President Joe Biden. The president ordered the Interior Department to help deploy 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar and geothermal energy public lands by . . . Complete story »
Wisconsin wind projects face restrictions to protect rare cave bats
State environmental regulators are proposing permit changes to reduce or avoid killing rare cave bats that may be affected by wind energy projects. Around a decade ago, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began requiring measures for certain projects to minimize impacts to cave bats under permits that allow harming or killing a protected species. The requirements were put in place for four bat species that had been listed as state threatened or federally endangered due to white-nose syndrome. The . . . Complete story »
Windrad im Spreewald nach Defekt abgebrannt
[Due to a technical defect, a wind turbine burned down on Monday near Neu Zauche (Dahme-Spreewald).] Wegen eines technischen Defekts ist am Montag in der Nähe von Neu Zauche (Dahme-Spreewald) ein Windrad abgebrannt. Das sagte am Mittwoch die zuständige Polizeidirektion Süd in Cottbus auf rbb-Nachfrage. Über den Brand hatte zuerst die Lausitzer Rundschau berichtet. Hoher Schaden Das Feuer war am Montagvormittag entdeckt worden. Es brannte im Maschinenhaus. Die Feuerwehr rückte an, konnte aufgrund der Höhe aber nicht eingreifen. Die Einsatzkräfte . . . Complete story »
La Sardegna ha limitato i parchi eolici e solari all’1 per cento del territorio
[Sardinia has limited wind and solar farms to 1 percent of its territory] Mercoledì il consiglio regionale della Sardegna ha approvato una legge per individuare le aree idonee alla costruzione di impianti per la produzione di energia da fonti rinnovabili, principalmente eolici e solari. I criteri individuati dalla maggioranza di centrosinistra sono molto rigidi: gli impianti potranno essere costruiti solo sull’1 per cento del territorio. L’approvazione è arrivata al termine di un lungo dibattito che ha coinvolto la politica sarda . . . Complete story »
Development of further wind farms in The Cabrach in Moray would breach human rights, campaigners claim
A group seeking to prevent the development of wind farms in a “fragile” community claim that building more would be in breach of their human rights. The Cabrach near Dufftown is currently home to 77 operational turbines. However, if all current windfarm applications are approved in the area, including those already built, The Cabrach will become Scotland’s largest onshore wind energy park, with 216 turbines across eight independent developments all within a 10km radius. The Saving The Cabrach group say . . . Complete story »
Germany’s weak winds trigger record surge in gas-fired power
Gas-fired electricity production in Germany jumped by a record 79% in November from the month before as utilities scrambled to offset a second straight month of sharply below-normal output from wind farms. Wind power output has been 25% below year-prior levels in October and November due to slow wind speeds, depriving power firms of a key electricity source just as winter set in. Wind farms supplied 27% of German utility electricity in 2023. To plug the resulting generation gap, utilities . . . Complete story »
Nantucket urges public action to determine outcome of wind project
The Town of Nantucket calls on you to help safeguard one of the nation’s most treasured National Historic Landmarks. We ask that you contact the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) to urge them to decline signing the Section 106 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for SouthCoast Wind. Section 106 requires federal agencies to consider the effects on historic properties of projects they carry out, assist, fund, permit, license, or approve throughout the . . . Complete story »
Як Колесник і Ковальчук “обвели навколо пальця” громадськість і допомагають “Вітропаркам” Єфімова уникнути кримінальної відповідальності і не сплатити 2 млн збитків
[How Kolesnyk and Kovalchuk “deceived” the public and helped Yefimov’s “Wind Farms” avoid criminal liability and payment of 2 million in damages – A wind company that illegally destroyed trees to build a road n a nature reserve is being cleared of responsibility with prosecution of one worker: According to Ukrainian environmental activists, the destruction of the Carpathian Mountains for wind turbines is being directed by the state’s top leadership and covered up with the help of the Transcarpathian region’s chief . . . Complete story »
Toxic blade time bomb
We have documented the threats of industrial wind turbines to both soil and water in their pre and post-construction phases, not to mention birds, bats, insects, and humans. But not enough has been said about the serious environmental threat of “blade shedding.” This is erosion that occurs primarily on the edge of turbine blades as they are exposed to the elements. And it is far from benign: “Microplastic shedding from turbine blades, known as Leading Edge Erosion, is a great . . . Complete story »
The ‘Stalinist’ net zero companies accused of desecrating the Highlands
It was named after the French for “beautiful place” – “beau lieu”. But the Highland village of Beauly, near Loch Ness, is threatened with becoming the exact opposite because of the country’s rush towards net zero. Nestled between the west Highlands and the Moray Firth, the gently sloping area has been earmarked as the focus of the low-carbon energy revolution changing the face of the north of Scotland. Furious locals are in despair at plans by energy giant Scottish and . . . Complete story »
