Wind Power News: Blogs
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch 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.
Progressive idea: municipal renewable-energy utilities
More than a decade ago, Rock Port, a small farming community in northwest Missouri, reportedly became the first U.S. municipality to be powered almost exclusively by renewable energy. Four large wind turbines are connected to the power grid and provide the town’s nearly 1,400 residents with most of the power they need. The turbines produce about 5 megawatts of electricity annually. When the wind isn’t blowing, residents buy power from the grid. But on most days, the turbines generate enough . . . Complete story »
Infrasound from wind turbines is detected at a distance of 40-60 km from wind parks during more than 50% of the measurement days
The Finnish Association for Environmental Health, SYTe, started measuring infrasound from wind turbines at seven different locations in Finland in the first half of April, 2019. According to the results from May–June the infrasound, from wind turbines can be measured at a distance of at least 30-60 km from the wind parks. In Satakunta, Southern and Northern Ostrobotnia, there is infrasound from wind turbines about half of the measurement days or even almost daily. On average, the infrasound from wind . . . Complete story »
Brown, others say DoD vindicates concerns about wind turbines and military operations
Sen. Harry Brown, R-Onslow, is convinced large wind energy projects, such as the Amazon Wind Farm near Elizabeth City, hinder the military’s ability to conduct low-level flight training missions in North Carolina. He also thinks construction of new wind facilities could hurt the state in a future Base Realignment and Closing process. Brown and others concerned about the compatibility of industrial-scale wind projects and military training say they recently got vindication from the Department of Defense. The director of the . . . Complete story »
Falmouth’s Governor: Deal Breaker Baker
A story of a town’s hope – hung out to dry … Wind energy is an industry that develops in rural settings. Falmouth Massachusetts was one of these places in 2005. The wind industry’s surrogate state wind energy agency came in, found a location with good wind yield and recommended industrial wind turbines be located at the town’s waste water treatment plant. You see, the remote-ness, the rural-ness, the small town country bumpkin-ness of Falmouth lead the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to . . . Complete story »
Wind farm on the Belvoir Ranch
This month marks the 20th anniversary of my first Bird Banter column for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. I wrote about cool birds seen on the ponds at the Rawhide coal-powered plant 20 miles south of Cheyenne, https://cheyennebirdbanter.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/birding-the-colorado-coast/. This month’s topic is also connected to Rawhide. It’s NextEra’s 120-turbine Roundhouse Wind Energy Center slated partly for the City of Cheyenne’s Belvoir Ranch. Roundhouse will stretch between I-80 south to the Wyoming border and from a couple miles west of I-25 on . . . Complete story »
Backyard wind turbines renew R.I.’s energy debate
CRANSTON, R.I. – Renee Petrone has lived along the Johnston border in Western Cranston for the past 15 years. She had given wind turbines little thought in that time. That changed in November, when Petrone and her husband returned home from a two-week vacation to find 519-foot-tall wind turbines staring at them from across the street. The Petrones, like just about everyone else in Alpine Estates, had no idea the neighborhood would one day be home to such imposing residents. Some . . . Complete story »
Virginia’s first onshore wind farm project is still ‘very much alive’
Offshore wind in Virginia might be making more headlines these days, but a Charlottesville renewable energy company says it is still on track to build the state’s first onshore wind project. Apex Clean Energy continues to seek a partnership with an electrical utility, a cooperative or a corporation to launch its 75- to 80-megawatt project on an Appalachian ridgeline in rural Botetourt County, north of Roanoke. Rocky Forge Wind was introduced in 2015 and initially scheduled to be up and . . . Complete story »
Falmouth wind project finally finished
Falmouth Massachusetts – The town that once was host to Governor Deval Patrick’s flagship wind energy project on Cape Cod and the Islands pronounced the Falmouth turbines dead. Four Falmouth Selectmen chose not to relocate either of its two V82 wind turbines to any other site within town. &Only one board member abstained from voting … due likely to his term soon ending and re-election strategy requiring schmoozing the predominate “green-minded” voter precincts in Woods Hole. Since March 2010, when . . . Complete story »
Falmouth selectmen to weigh relocation option
TIMELINE OF FOLLY October 15, 2018 During Public Comment to the Falmouth Board of Selectmen, a warning was given by a resident to the board that Wind 2 required the certainty of an official zoning classification (declaring a structure non-conforming with local zoning bylaw or a structure non-complying with zoning bylaw). It was explained to the board that the zoning enforcement request submitted for Wind 1 (December 2017) resulted in Falmouth Building Commissioner Palmer’s determination that Wind 1’s zoning classification, without . . . Complete story »
More wind
The Jasper County Commissioners met on Monday with a short agenda and a huge audience. The meeting could not be moved to a court room because the courts were in session. First on the agenda was a brief report from Stephen Eastridge, Director of the Jasper County Economic Development Organization (JCEDO). He announced that there would be a series of meetings of the task force to prepare the County for the 2023 closing of the Schahfer Plant. The first will . . . Complete story »
