Green Options » wind farms

New Zealand Environment Court Says No to Huge Wind Farm

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:26:46 +0000

What would have been the Southern Hemisphere’s largest wind farm, a $2 billion NZD ($1.4 billion USD) and 630 MW wind farm in New Zealand, is not happening because New Zealand’s Environment Court says that it would ruin the surrounding landscape.

This project would have powered over a million homes and made a huge dent in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions. It is not happening now because of a group of NIMBY activists and the Environment Court’s ruling.

This is a huge blow, in itself, to renewable and wind energy proponents, but it also brings concerns for future wind energy projects.

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Maldives Goes from Underwater Meetings to Huge Wind Farm

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:03:15 +0000

Maldives, one of the most beautiful nations on earth, held the artistic, theatrical event of an underwater government meeting last month, to try to bring more attention to the threats of climate change. Now, they are getting more practical but still grabbing headlines — they are looking to build a wind farm that will generate 40% of the island nation’s electricity needs.

The wind farm plans were announced earlier this week. The project will include 30 turbines and is expected to provide the nation with 75 MW of power, powering the capital city, their international airport, and more!

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China Forgets “China-Only Wind Turbines” Policy, but Why?

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:02 +0000

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about China’s new policy to focus on buying (almost entirely) “China-grown” wind turbines and wind turbine technologies with Chinese patents. That policy wasn’t a big hit internationally and China is back-tracking.

However, is it changing its stance out of international moral pressure or a major financial incentive (recent deal) in the US? And who is to benefit the most from this shift?

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Biggest Wind Farm in World — in Texas

Zachary Shahan — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:15:42 +0000

European energy giant E.ON “turned on” what is reported to be the largest wind farm in the world this week, in Texas.

The farm contains 627 wind turbines on almost 100,000 acres of land near Roscoe, Texas.

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$900 Billion to Cut China’s Emissions with Wind Power

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:38:25 +0000

As mentioned in previous posts, the United Nations is calling on rich (developed) countries to provide developing countries with $500-600 billion a year in support to tackle climate change. A recent report declares that India needs $1.1 trillion in the next several years to cut emission growth by 50-60% by 2030. Another report from the last week says that China could cut its emissions by 30% by 2030 as well with $900 billion of investment in wind energy.

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Magenn Wind Power; Turbine In The Sky

Christopher DeMorro — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:12:42 +0000

Wind power is a great, effective way to make energy, but only when the wind blows. Or if you can find the open space to plant large wind farms that tear apart birds, bats, and low-flying hot air balloons. There are also many people who would hate to live in the shadow of one of these wind farms. But what if the turbines were 1,000 feet in the air?

This is the idea behind a conceptual wind turbine in the sky built by Magenn Power Inc. Called the MARS (Magenn Air Rotor System), this system utilizes an inflatible rotor that floats high above the air without requiring a tower, just a tether.

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Chinese Bank Invests in PRC’s Wind Farm Project

Ruedigar Matthes — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:38:11 +0000

Coming in at second place in the world in energy consumption - second only to the United States - the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the world’s most populated nation, is looking for ways to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and shift to renewable energy. This desire to increase renewable energy sources and cut greenhouse gases has led the PRC to promote private investments in renewables.

Such promotion has led to a recent investment by The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which will partly finance a $73 million wind farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. ADB will be investing $24 US (164 million CNY) in Datang Sino-Japan (Chifeng) Renewable Power Corporation, a joint venture between state-owned China Datang Corporation and Japan’s Kyushu Electric Power Company, Sumitomo Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation (CHINA) Holdings. Such a venture will be ADB’s first private sector wind farm investment in the PRC.

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Musings of an Eight Year Old Eco-Warrior

Amy Bell — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Being this is my first post with Green Options, and with Eco Child’s Play, I thought I’d confer with my son about what the topic should be. His answer went something like this…

“You need to tell people that we only have one Earth, and we need to take better care of it. Also, people need to stop littering. That’s gross. Besides, when you think about it, the Earth is our home…and you don’t throw garbage around on the floor of your home!”

What a brilliant analogy. That’s one thing I love about children, they tell it like it is.

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Earth Policy Institute: Creating New Jobs, Cutting Carbon Emissions, and Reducing Oil Imports by Investing in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

Earth Policy Institute — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:38:53 +0000

By Lester R. Brown

At a time when major U.S. companies are announcing job layoffs almost daily, the renewable energy industry is hiring new workers every day to build wind farms, install rooftop solar arrays, and build solar thermal and geothermal power plants. The output of industrial firms that manufacture the equipment for these energy facilities is expanding by well over 30 percent a year. These investments both create jobs and help prevent climate change from spiraling out of control.

Among the several sources of renewable energy, wind looms large. The United States has 24,000 megawatts of wind generating capacity already online (think 24 coal-fired power plants), and 83 wind farms with some 8,000 megawatts of capacity are under construction. Beyond this, a staggering 225,000 megawatts of planned wind farms are waiting for access to transmission lines.

Currently, the United States has 40 plants manufacturing wind power components. Eight of these plants are assembling wind turbines, 20 are fabricating wind towers, and 12 are making blades. In addition, many more manufacturing facilities are under construction, recently announced, and in planning. Every billion dollars invested in wind farms creates some 3,350 jobs—nearly four times the 870 jobs created with a similar investment in coal-fired power plants. (See data.)

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Iberdrola Adopts Wind Industry’s First Company-Wide Avian and Bat Protection Plan

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:47:12 +0000

Oregon-based Iberdrola Renewables has adopted what is arguably the most holistic policy to protect avian and bat populations in the wind energy industry. The plan is modeled in part after the 2005 avian protection plan template (pdf) developed by the Edison Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address the impacts of transmission and distribution lines on birds.

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Hiring: CO Wind Turbine Producer Seeks 1,400 Workers

Alex Felsinger — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:00:16 +0000

The green technology boom has already begun. Perhaps the economy will recover faster than we thought.

Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, is seeking 1,400 workers, all of which will be full-time positions with benefits. The company is adding facilities in Brighton, Colorado for assembly and blade manufacturing. For applications and more information, visit their job listings website.

Photo: Greenjobsnow under Creative Commons license.

Alternative Energy in Britain: All Wind And No Farm

Mark Seall — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:00:35 +0000

Surrounded by water, with strong winds blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean, Great Britain is a blustery place. There’s nothing quite like an invigorating walk along the cliff-tops to blow away the cobwebs.

I was reminded of this on a recent Sunday afternoon visit to the Portland Bill lighthouse on the South coast of England (pictured), since despite the brilliant sunshine one needed a concerted effort to walk headlong into the howling wind. Talking above the constant noise of wind and sea was almost impossible, and local people tell me this is by no means unusual here.

Yet despite being a desolate place with enough wind energy blowing through every day to provide a significant portion of local energy needs, you won’t find a single wind turbine at Portland today. Nor anywhere else along the windy Dorset coast for that matter.

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T. Boone Pickens Out for Water, Not Wind

Courtney Carlisle — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:25:09 +0000

Texas billionaire, T. Boone Pickens, is causing quite a stir across the nation with his bold Picken’s Plan to build the largest wind farm in the nation. In fact, he has caused such a commotion, that everyone seems to be forgetting about Mesa Water.

Pickens’ company, Mesa Water, bought more than 200,000 acres of ground water rights in Roberts County, Texas. Estimating that he could make more than $1 billion off of the $75 million investment over the next few decades, Pickens wants to drain the Ogallala Aquifer to meet the demand for water in west Texas.

This video from Zaproot, The Truth About the Pickens Plan, is very entertaining and does a great job of explaining the slight of hand trick that Pickens seems to be playing with wind, water and the dreaded emminent domain.

Happy viewing!

For Related Post on T. Boone Pickens:

T. Boone’s ‘Pickens Plan’: Spin the wind turbine

Joe Mohr — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:13:25 +0000

T. Boone Pickens helps bring wind energy to the center of the energy discussion and the center of the political aisle.

Misguided Probing
I don’t think it made the 3 minute clip CBS aired, but in the full 12 minute interview Katie Couric instantly goes after T. Boone Pickens about his financial aspirations of starting a wind farm. Now I’m no big T. Boone Pickens fan, but Katie, people start companies to make money (and tycoons usually start businesses to make billions). As much as you can fault the man for funding the swiftboat attack ads against John Kerry, or fault him for his influence on the Republican Party, you can’t fault the man for starting a business and wanting to make money.

I think Katie is trying to get T. Boone to say what everyone already knows (so why even waste time probing for a confession?) which is, T. Boone Pickens doesn’t care about the environment or the economic revival of rural economies as the well laid out spinning on his Pickens Plan website would like you to believe.

T. Boone Pickens cares about money–and he’s good at making it.

So why then, poke and prod a man who will put his tycoon-ish master mind to work on an energy source that will benefit the nation environmentally and economically?
Katie should’ve poked and prodded T. Boone for what was curiously left out of the Pickens Plan.

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MoD Indecision and Renewable Energy: The Final Cost?

Pem Charnley — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:55:04 +0000

The military games must stop. The ambiguities come to an end. Explanations need to be provided.

I reported in the Guardian last month that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) were objecting to wind farms in the UK because they felt the turbines interfered with military radar. The turbines were, in their words “in the line of sight.”

(Of course, were we not a bellicose little island nation, always eager to attack and interfere with foreign disputes, we wouldn’t need to concern ourselves with defense quite so much.)

I demanded answers. Demanded, if their objections were true, that there be immediate improvements in radar technology so that the UK could proceed with meeting renewable energy targets.

75 miles was the round figure given. Were a turbine any closer than that, then interference would be unacceptable, the UK’s defense at risk.

Yet, last week there was a U-turn by the MoD. A complete turnaround that must have caused wind farm planners along the east coast of England millions of pounds: financial waste caused by military indecision.

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Wind Farms: Sorting the Wheat from the Chaffinches

Pem Charnley — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:44:07 +0000

Wind farms - certainly here in the UK anyway - seem to generate far more heated a debate than perhaps any other form of sustainable energy.

There are three arguments against their construction: namely, their ineffectiveness per se as a means of generating energy; their apparent ruination of idyllic countryside by their very presence; and the debate as to whether they pose a real danger to wildlife.

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An Ill Wind Blows in the U.K.

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:51:57 +0000

The U.K.’s Times Online reports today that plans for at least four offshore wind farms might be in jeopardy because of objections from the Ministry of Defence.

The last-minute filing by the MoD states the proposed wind farms would lie directly in the way of three of its main radar defense stations along the British coast. The wind turbines would create holes in the ministry’s radar surveillance coverage, possibly obscuring oncoming aircraft, the objection stated, according to the Times Online.

That assessment runs counter to previous findings that the planned wind farms wouldn’t affect defence operations, the Times Online continued. As a result, wind-farm developers have responded with their own letter of protest to government officials.

The proposed offshore farms are part of the U.K.’s strategy to generate up to a third of the energy it needs from wind power.