Wind Power News: General News
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.
Energy crunch hits global recovery as winter approaches
Power shortages are turning out streetlights and shutting down factories in China. The poor in Brazil are choosing between paying for food or electricity. German corn and wheat farmers can’t find fertilizer, made using natural gas. And fears are rising that Europe will have to ration electricity if it’s a cold winter. The world is gripped by an energy crunch – a fierce squeeze on some of the key markets for natural gas, oil and other fuels that keep the global . . . Complete story »
As turbines rise, small-scale fishermen have the most to lose
A fisherman steers his trawler through the predawn darkness, past the outlines of multistory motor yachts, sleek pleasure boats and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. When he was a boy, people told him to go into fishing. The harder you work, the more money you will make, they’d say. He isn’t so sure anymore. The twin diesel motors groan and the trawler pushes out beyond the harbor break into Long Island Sound. The ocean is calm. The summer sun rises . . . Complete story »
Surging wind industry faces its own green dilemma: landfills
Wind turbines have become a vital source of global green energy but their makers increasingly face an environmental conundrum of their own: how to recycle them. The European Union’s share of electricity from wind power has grown from less than 1% in 2000, when the continent began to curb planet-heating fossil fuels, to more than 16% today. As the first wave of windmills reach the end of their lives, ten of thousands of blades are being stacked and buried in . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine swoosh “more annoying” at night, new study finds
UPDATED: New federally funded research investigating the association of wind farm noise with adverse effects on humans has found that the “swoosh” sound made by spinning turbine blades was likely to be more noticeable – and more annoying – to nearby residents during the night than during the day. The research, led by Flinders University PhD candidate Duc Phuc Nguyen and acoustic expert Dr Kristy Hansen, has combined long-term monitoring of wind farm noise with machine learning to quantify and . . . Complete story »
World economy seen risking 1970s-style disruption in green shift
The global transition to a carbon-neutral economy will cause economic disruption reminiscent of the energy crisis of the 1970s, according to a paper by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Even if efforts to drastically cut emissions are digestible in the long term, the immediate impact from the difficult adjustments needed may be similar in scope to the period of subdued growth and rampant inflation that stemmed from that oil-price shock, according to Jean Pisani-Ferry, an economist at the Washington-based . . . Complete story »
Orsted profits in doldrums as wind turbines stop turning
The world’s biggest offshore wind developer has warned that profits will be at the low end of guidance this year because the weather has been far less windy than expected. Orsted, which operates turbines in UK, Danish, German and Dutch waters, said it had seen “significantly lower than normal wind speeds across our entire offshore wind portfolio” this year. It said it needed wind speeds to return to normal in the remaining five months of the year to deliver operating . . . Complete story »
World’s largest offshore wind developer warns on low wind speeds
The world’s largest offshore wind developer has warned that low wind speeds are expected to affect its performance this year, highlighting the vulnerability of the renewable power giants to weather conditions. Orsted expects annual profits to be towards the lower end of its predicted range of 15bn to 16bn kroner (£1.7bn to £1.8bn) due to very low wind speeds in June and July. The period ranked among the worst three quarters in more than 20 years. Mads Nipper, the Danish . . . Complete story »
Lighter winds slow progress at offshore firms Orsted, RWE
Orsted and RWE, the world’s two largest offshore wind players, both suffered from lighter winds in the first half of the year, highlighting how profits in the booming industry remain tied to weather conditions. Denmark’s Orsted said wind speeds in the April-June period were “significantly lower than normal” and ranked among the worst three quarters in over more than 20 years. As a consequence, it said it would likely hit only the lower end of its guided core profit range . . . Complete story »
Clean energy faces the same problem as fossil fuels: community protests
In late June, about 30 local commercial fishing boats surrounded a towering vessel off the coast of Brittany, seeking to block the installation of part of a $2.9 billion wind farm run by Spanish utility Iberdrola SA . The fishermen succeeded in driving the ship away, prompting a judicial investigation and legal threats from the local Iberdrola unit, Ailes Marines, against the protesters. The fishermen say they will continue to fight against the project, saying it threatens to destroy their . . . Complete story »
Hawaii offshore wind farm development in doldrums
Hawaii has long been a national leader in solar energy production, but the state is lagging in a quest to reach a renewable-energy frontier that appeared to be on the horizon several years ago. A federal agency regulating development of offshore wind farms has issued 16 ocean leases for such projects off eight coastal states since 2012. The state surrounded by the ocean, however, isn’t among them. Furthermore, a Massachusetts project with one of the leases last month received the . . . Complete story »
