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Wind Power News: February 2011
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.
Groups plan to picket Sunrise Powerlink site
ALPINE – Opponents of San Diego Gas & Electric’s Sunrise Powerlink project plan to gather Tuesday in downtown Alpine to protest construction of the transmission line, which would run through this part of the unincorporated community. They intend to picket the work site starting at 7 a.m., said Ray Lutz, coordinator of the group Citizens’ Oversight Projects. “Although the project faces numerous court challenges and a new state administration, SDG&E continues to push forward with construction of a transmission line that . . . Complete story »
Why the £250bn wind power industry could be the greatest scam of our age – and here are the three ‘lies’ that prove it
Scarcely a day goes by without more evidence to show why the Government’s obsession with wind turbines, now at the centre of our national energy policy, is one of the greatest political blunders of our time. Under a target agreed with the EU, Britain is committed within ten years – at astronomic expense – to generating nearly a third of its electricity from renewable sources, mainly through building thousands more wind turbines. But the penny is finally dropping for almost everyone – except . . . Complete story »
Ill wind blows for power siting council
Building renewable energy in Connecticut is getting harder. At a time when Connecticut’s laws call for greenhouse gas reductions and a Renewable Portfolio Standard that in nine years wants 20 percent of the state’s electricity to come from Class I renewables such as wind and solar, legislators and residents are fighting tooth and nail against Connecticut’s first proposed commercial wind project. West Hartford wind developer BNE Energy, Inc. wants to put two 1.6-megawatt turbines in Prospect and six 1.6-megawatt turbines . . . Complete story »
Barnstable County unveils draft regs for turbines
It’ll be much harder to site a wind turbine on Cape Cod if new rules proposed by Cape Cod Commission are adopted. Not adopting rules “leaves us at the mercy of the state and what they want to do and no one wants that,” said Dennis Selectman Wayne Bergeron. So commission members approved the proposed regulations last Thursday by a pair of 9-1 votes and they now go before the Assembly of Delegates. Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative spokesman Liz . . . Complete story »
New report casts doubt on Scotland’s role as the ‘Saudi Arabia of renewables’
“Scotland has the potential to become the Saudi Arabia of renewables,” has been the oft-repeated message from the Scottish Government. Ministers have been adamant: Scotland is blessed to have so much wind coursing over its hills, so many waves pounding its shores and such strong tidal currents drawing between its islands. But the “renewables bonanza”, predicted to bring 50,000 long-term jobs to Scotland and allow us to export electricity to the whole of Europe, never mind the rest of the . . . Complete story »
Dismay at fresh bid to site wind farm at Rossie
Disbelief has been expressed that a wind farm developer is eyeing land on the edge of a north-east Fife village where residents fought off the construction of wind turbines just three years ago. People in Auchtermuchty waged and won a long battle to prevent EnergieKontor building five turbines at Rossie, to the east of the burgh. However, another green energy company is now considering building three turbines that will be more than 80 metres high in roughly the same area, . . . Complete story »
Study says green sector costs more jobs than it creates
Government support for the renewable sector in Scotland is costing more jobs than it creates, a report has claimed. A study by consultants Verso Economics found there was a negative impact from the policy to promote the industry. It said 3.7 jobs were lost for every one created in the UK as a whole and that political leaders needed to engage in “honest debate” about the issue. The Scottish government called the study “misleading” and said 60,000 jobs could be . . . Complete story »
Looking at wind energy
Meaford Council won’t blow over for wind farm developers like International Power Corporation of Toronto. Deputy Mayor Harley Greenfield expects council to set up an ad hoc committee solely dedicated to studying wind and solar energy. It comes as IPC continues their “Silcote Corners Wind project” which would see 29 wind turbines erected in the area between Annan and Balaclava. Greenfield is hopeful a resolution is passed for an ad hoc committee at Monday’s Council meeting. The committee would look . . . Complete story »
Grey Highlands seeks proper consultation on wind projects
Grey Highlands wants any further wind energy projects to be suspended until the provincial government meets its obligation under the Green Energy Act to consult with the community. In a motion passed last week, council called on the province to show how it plans to do that. The move by council came following the discovery that to date there are at least five wind energy projects in Grey Highlands with more than 40 turbines in various stages of development and . . . Complete story »
Lack of wind hits wind energy production
The production of wind energy in the Netherlands fell by 13% last year despite the increase in the number of turbines, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday. The decline was due to a lack of wind. According to a special wind index, which takes 100 as the benchmark, last year the amount of wind fell to 77, the CBS said. The amount of sustainable energy produced in the Netherlands remained 9% of the total last year, in line . . . Complete story »