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 are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
Wind energy resources declining in northern hemisphere: study
A widespread decrease in surface winds has led to a rapid decline of wind energy resources in the northern hemisphere in recent years, according to a recent study led by Chinese researchers. Wind power is one of the most important renewable energy sources, but it is a fairly unstable natural resource. Previous studies have focused on the assessment of wind energy reserves. However, little research has been done on how wind energy resources evolve over time. Researchers from the Institute . . . Complete story »
It takes power to make power: Temporary power keeps wind turbines spinning
As the fourth largest source of power in North America, wind energy continues to be an essential part of the renewable energy story. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Vision report expects wind energy to supply 10 percent of the United States power needs by 2020, 20 percent by 2030 and 35 percent by 2050. To keep up with the ambitious growth trajectory, the size of wind turbines is also growing. So, engineers are turning to more powerful temporary generators . . . Complete story »
Wind farms can act like apex predators in ecosystems, study finds
The impact of wind farms on flying species has been well documented, with turbines reducing the number of birds and bats in an area and disrupting migration routes. But a new study finds that the impacts of turbines are more far-reaching than previously thought, acting almost like a new apex predator in an ecosystem. Ecologists from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore looked at how wind farms in India’s Western Ghats, which have been operating for 16 to 20 . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines acting as ‘apex predators’ by driving down bird numbers, study finds
Wind turbines can act as top predators in ecosystems by driving down populations of birds and triggering knock-on effects across food chains, according to a new study. Scientists found that predatory raptor birds were four times rarer in parts of an Indian mountain range covered in wind turbines, suggesting they were avoiding the structures. The same areas saw an explosion in numbers the raptors’ prey, fan-throated lizards, which also became more confident and less scared of humans due to the . . . Complete story »
Wind farm ‘predator’ effect hits ecosystems: study
Wind farms act as a top “predator” in some ecosystems, harming birds at the top of the food chain and triggering a knock-on effect overlooked by green energy advocates, scientists said Monday. Wind is the fastest-growing renewable energy sector, supplying around four percent of global electricity demand. Close to 17 million hectares—an area roughly the size of Tunisia—is currently used for generating wind energy worldwide, and researchers warned that developers had “greatly underestimated” the impact the technology has on wildlife. . . . Complete story »
Wind farms: where kites stay away, lizards play
On the Western Ghats, biologists have discovered that wind farms reduce the abundance of predatory birds and increase lizard populations, triggering a cascade of changes in the food chain whose long-term consequences remain unclear. A study by ecologists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has revealed that predatory birds such as buzzards, hawks and kites avoid areas around wind turbines and allow lizard populations there to thrive. The scientists found that the population densities of the most common lizard . . . Complete story »
New enemy of birds of prey: wind farms
There’s a new super-predator in Maharashtra’s Chalkewadi plateau. With their constantly-whirring blades, wind turbines have decreased birds of prey here, finds a study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution on November 5. It also proves, for the first time, that the ramifications of wind farms run much deeper across the food chain: superb fan-throated lizards – small, colourful reptiles that the birds prey on – increased in number and showed altered behaviour, physiology and even less-flamboyant body colours. Wind farms . . . Complete story »
Wind turbines in 2018
In October 1986, I presented a keynote address to the Community Noise Conference held in Toowoomba, co-sponsored by the Queensland Division of Noise Abatement and Air Pollution and the Australian Acoustical Society. The title of my talk was “Health Hazards of Noise.” In my talk, I spoke of noise as not just an urban phenomenon and gave examples of how residents in quieter communities can find themselves exposed to intrusive noises. One example I gave was the following: Imagine how . . . Complete story »
Stilling: The curious case of land wind speed decline
All over the world, the wind is slowing. Bit by bit, low-level land wind speeds have been decreasing since reliable records began in the 1970s. It is called “the stilling”. The decline was silently sneaking through under the radar until Australian National University professor Michael Roderick and his colleagues made a mistake. They noticed that the pan evaporation rates in the Northern Hemisphere were going down – not what you would intuitively expect in a warming world. The pan evaporation rate . . . Complete story »
Google: Powering data centers with clean energy 24/7 ‘no easy feat’
Dive Brief: Google issued a white paper Wednesday examining the energy used to run its data centers, concluding that while it has purchased 2.6 GW of renewable capacity, more than sufficient to cover its demands for clean energy, the resources are not fully aligned with when the electricity can be delivered. The internet giant reached its 100% renewable energy purchasing goal on a global and annual basis last year, but says it will now tackle the “much more challenging” long-term goal . . . Complete story »
