It seems that the more time that goes on, the more we see poop being converted into a useful energy source. The latest nation to jump on board this new green trend in alternative energy is the Netherlands with the opening of a cow dung powered plant this Friday.

Read more of this story »

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.

Read more of this story »

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?

Read more of this story »

Big shifts seem to be stirring in the wind turbine market. Foreign companies are backing out of China due to China’s move to use more home-grown technology. At the same time, China is looking to expand its wind turbine sales into Europe.

Read more of this story »

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.

Read more of this story »

Tejon Ranch Company (TRC) has received the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) for its PR scheme designed to distract the public from condor-killing real estate development plans.

Apparently, in Schwarzenegger’s California, the development of a luxury mountain resort in the middle of designated California condor habitat is an award-winning event.

Read more of this story »

There has been evidence suggested that rooftop wind turbines (micro wind turbines for the home) just aren’t effective, and in some cases even pose a safety risk. However, that hasn’t stopped the engineering of other home wind turbine technologies that might just improve upon those already offerred on the market. In the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Green Challenge which took place this past week, a new type of wind turbine was unveiled that’s said to have a high-efficiency, working in weather conditions where there is minimal wind; and it also has a more discreet look that better blends in with the architecture of any home.

Read more of this story »

The world’s very first floating fullscale offshore wind turbine has officially been inaugurated in the North Sea off the coast of Norway.

The turbine even has a name: Hywind. It measures 213 feet tall and weighs 5,300 tonnes, and it rests on a floating stand which is filled with water and rocks to provide balast. Three powerful cables anchor the stand to the seafloor.

Read more of this story »

I guess I’m on a pole dancing kick this week. But, my (very short) post on nude pole dancing on the subway inspired thoughts of how renewable energy needs to get a little “sexier”.

This should do the trick…

Related Stuff

Green Options Articles tagged ‘wind energy’
Mean Joe Green cartoon archive

Buildup of microtrash

“Microtrash” consists of bottle caps, pop-tops, small pieces of glass, plastic and metal (including pennies, etc.). Biologists believe that these items are mistaken for bone chips by adult condors who feed them to their chicks.

Adult condors usually regurgitate these materials, but it is another story with condor chicks. The baby condors cannot digest or regurgitate microtrash, and are dying of microtrash impaction.

Ventana Wildlife Society reported in July that a condor chick was found dead from ingesting microtrash. The chick’s stomach was clogged with shards of glass, a metal fragment, and a penny.

Appendix C of the Tejon Ranch California Condor Conservation and Management Plan prepared for Tejon Mountain Village LLC and TRC by Bloom Biological includes the following carefully-worded gem:

Development and ongoing operations of TMV could result in the buildup of microtrash associated with the development of residences and other structures within condor foraging areas. Associated Ranch activities such as film production, passive recreation, repair and maintenance of roads, and visits to backcountry cabins in areas of the Ranch outside of TMV after initial project development could also result in the leaving of microtrash that could be ingested by adult condors in areas frequented by the species. An increase in microtrash in areas accessible to condors would represent a potentially significant impact under CEQA and could result in take (harm) of condors. Measures are included in this plan (discussed further below) that would avoid and/or minimize impacts and potential “take” due to microtrash.

And those “included measures”?

TMV LLC will retain, or cause to be retained, professional environmental education specialists to create and disseminate a condor educational curriculum that will include information concerning the life history of the California condor, where condors potentially occur within TMV, prohibited behaviors related to condors such as the pursuit, capture, harassment, and all other potential direct interaction of the species. The information will also identify types of microtrash that could be ingested by adult breeding condors and describe measures to eliminate microtrash on and near all construction sites, recreational areas, outdoor filming projects, roads, and back-country areas where human presence has occurred. The education program will include training of key personnel at the Ranch, appropriate signage at trailheads or entrances to Open Space areas, and dissemination of pertinent information at on-site nature centers or other public areas.

And if hiring consultants to tell the residents and guests of Tejon Mountain Village not to litter condor habitat with microtrash doesn’t work?

If it is determined that condors are either ingesting microtrash within TMV or elsewhere on Tejon Ranch, Tejon Ranch and the FWS shall evaluate potential remedies to reduce, and, if possible, eliminate microtrash ingestion. Such remedies may include increased education and awareness to Tejon residents, guests, staff, and workers regarding the dangers of microtrash, increased monitoring of events and activities that are potential sources of microtrash, and more frequent collection of microtrash.

The bottom line:

More people = more microtrash. More microtrash = more dead condor chicks.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kainroadculdesac/ / CC BY 2.0

Project location

The location of Tejon Mountain Village in relation to condor feeding and nesting areas will disrupt crucial chick-rearing activities.

A study by Dr. Christopher Cogan - California Condor Activity in the Tejon Ranch Region - confirms that the Tejon Mountain Village is planned in a condor “commute” area - a flight path that connects condor feeding grounds with nesting areas.

Human disturbances

Nesting condors are extremely sensitive to human activity. Dr. Cogan also cited the following from an earlier research report:

One man can keep a pair of condors from the egg all night or prevent the feeding of a chick for an entire day merely by exposing himself within 500 years of a nest for a few minutes at one or two critical times of the day. Loud noises can alarm condors at distances of over one mile. Individuals or groups of persons moving about must keep at least one-half mile from condor nests in order to avoid disturbance of the parent birds.

Referring again to Appendix C of the Tejon Ranch California Condor Conservation and Management Plan prepared for Tejon Mountain Village LLC and TRC by Bloom Biological, let’s look at “Human disturbances”:

The intentional or inadvertent harassment of condors feeding on carcasses, roosting in trees or on rock outcrops, or that are otherwise using areas within the TMV Planning Area or adjacent areas could cause significant disruption of normal feeding or roosting behaviors at temporary roost sites in individual condors. Such disruption could occur as a result of noise, nighttime lighting, and activities associated with film production, passive recreation, and occupancy of backcountry cabins. Human disturbances to condors would represent a potentially significant impact under CEQA and could result in take (harassment) of condors. Measures are included in this plan (discussed further below) that would avoid and/or minimize impacts and “take” due to human disturbances.

Again, TRC expects to “avoid and/or minimize the potential for human disturbances” with a “condor education curriculum.”

A condor educational curriculum, as provided above, will be created and disseminated that will include information concerning prohibited behaviors related to condors such as the pursuit, capture, harassment, and all other potential direct interaction of the species …

Recreational activities, particularly organized events, and filming projects in areas where condors are known or expected to occur will be closely regulated to minimize any effects that could disturb feeding or roosting condors.

How will TRC ensure that “the potential for human disturbances” will be avoided and or minimized?

Compliance with condor protection measures will be enforced by means of CC&Rs …

CC&Rs to enforce protection of critically endangered California condors?

Map image: Cogan, Christopher B. 2009. California Condor Activity in the Tejon Ranch Region. Center for Biological Diversity Report, 12 June 2009. San Francisco, CA, USA. 22pp.

Wind turbines

Prop-style wind turbines are killing birds at an alarming rate. Some biologists believe that even these numbers are under reported.

It has recently been estimated that the 13,000 wind turbines operating in Spain are killing nearly 2,000 Griffon vultures every year.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) has caused a severe environmental impact to raptor populations due to wind turbines.

The APWRA has the highest numbers and rates of raptor kills of any wind facility in the world. The bird kill fiasco at Altamont Pass is a result of poor planning that allowed wind turbines to be built along a major raptor migration corridor in an area with high wintering concentrations of raptors and in the heart of the highest concentration of golden eagles in North America. Wind turbines at Altamont Pass kill an estimated 880 to 1,300 birds of prey each year, including up to 116 golden eagles, 300 red-tailed hawks, 380 burrowing owls, and additional hundreds of other raptors including kestrels, falcons, vultures, and other owl species. The APWRA is an ecological sink for golden eagles and other raptor species and may be having significant impacts on populations of birds that are rare and reproduce infrequently.

Biologist Jim Wiegand believes that several dozen missing captive-bred California condors have perished due to the Tehachapi Pass wind farm where 5,000 wind turbines are situated.

And according to Wiegand, wind projects are planned for property owned by Tejon Ranch Company.

It is called the PdV Wind Energy Project. A few miles away another new wind farm, the Alta Oak wind project is in front of the same planning department in Kern County that approved the PDV Wind farm. It too will kill free flying Condors. Several more undisclosed prop wind farms are also being planned for the southern slopes Tehachapi Mountains on land owned by Tejon Ranch Company.

Appendix C of the Tejon Ranch California Condor Conservation and Management Plan prepared for Tejon Mountain Village LLC and TRC by Bloom Biological does mention wind turbines.

No wind farms will be constructed anywhere on the Covered Lands (and TRC agrees to expand the ban to all Ranch lands). However, individual wind turbines, which have the primary purpose to serve electrical generation needs on site, may be constructed if, after review and approval by the FWS, such turbines are of a design and in a location that would not pose a threat to condors.

Jim Wiegand - who supports the development of vertical shaft turbine wind power - says that Tejon Ranch is sitting on one of the very best wind resource areas in California. The area reportedly has two to three times the wind speed and is more than 20 times the size of Altamont Pass.

Are we supposed to believe that TRC is just going to sit there on this potential gold mine of wind energy and do nothing with it?

How will TRC explain such waste their shareholders?

The loophole lurks in the “review and approval by the FWS.”

Wind farm location image provided by Jim Wiegand.

“A substantial positive impact”?

Appendix C of the Tejon Ranch California Condor Conservation and Management Plan prepared for Tejon Mountain Village LLC and TRC by Bloom Biological concludes with the following:

… the author and the Condor Panel believe that implementation of the plan proposed in this report would have a substantial positive impact on the long-term survival and recovery of condors in Southern California.

Such a statement brings to mind a recent OnEarth Magazine article in which environmental consultant Robert Moran was interviewed. Moran used to consult for big mining companies, and now he works with the nonprofits fighting against them.

It’s a kind of natural progression you see in a lot of scientists. As you mature, you look a bit more carefully at the consequences of what you’re doing. When I said controversial things about projects I was working on, the companies would put them in reports and lock them in a safe somewhere, and they’d never see the light of day. I got tired of that. It was clear that the public-interest side was being outgunned time after time. So I did make a conscious effort to switch sides.

How to help California condors

On Monday, October 5, the Kern County Board of Supervisors will decide the fate of the condor in the southern San Joaquin Valley.

The Center for Biological Diversity has set up a link for you to send a letter to the Kern County Board of Supervisors to stop Tejon Mountain Village.

You can voice your opposition to this development to the Kern County supervisors and ask them to deny the plan as proposed and get the development out of condor critical habitat:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1519

For more information, visit:

• Center for Biological Diversity
• Save Tejon Ranch

Image source: Wikimedia commons.

Despite President Obama’s call for the United States to lead the clean energy technology industry, a weak climate bill (H.R. 2454) awaiting the Senate to return from recess promises limited funding for research and development of renewable clean energy technologies.

Asia, however, has recognized the advantages of embracing clean energy development and the race for clean energy dominance is heating up faster than the planet. Here’s a look at the development of clean energy technology in the some of the world’s developing Asian economies.

1. Kunming - China’s “Solar City”

Read more of this story »

Looking at a map of installed wind energy capacity in the U.S., one can easily see that the Southeast does not generate much wind power. Generally speaking this is because states like Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana have a poor wind resource. But in other places, like North Carolina for example, there’s a little more to the story.

In addition to a sub-par resource, political opposition based largely on aesthetics have prevented wind power from taking off in the western part of the state — where the only viable onshore resource exists. And if a bill currently being considered by the state legislature effectively banning large turbines wins approval, wind power won’t be taking off any time soon in the Tarheel State.

Read more of this story »

Made in the USA is back.  Nordex USA, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of wind turbines, has just announced that it will build a manufacturing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  The plant is expected to begin producing turbines in 2010 and create approximately 600 jobs.  With a typical wind turbine requiring about 8,000 components, that could mean a ripple effect in related jobs in the supply chain.

Read more of this story »

Concept incorporates vertical-axis wind turbines directly into transmission towers already dotting the landscape.

Three Frenchmen, architects Nic­ola Delon and Julien Choppin, along with engineer Raphaël Ménard, believe they have stumbled upon a scalable design that would not only allow wind turbines to work in virtually any landscape, they believe it avoids some of the aesthetic hurdles normally facing large wind farms. The Wind-it concept would fuse vertical-axis wind turbines directly into new or existing electricity transmission infrastructure.

The team estimates that if a third of France’s high-voltage electricity towers were renovated with turbines, they could rival the power generation of two nuclear reactors, or about 5 percent of the country’s energy needs.

Read more of this story »

High-altitude winds hold enough energy to power the world 100 times over.

Though harnessing them is another issue.

You’ve heard of commercial wind turbines in farm fields, offshore turbines on the water, even small wind turbines on the rooftops of homes, but high-altitude winds are also being studied as a potential energy source.

The first-ever study of high-altitude winds by the Carnegie Institution and California State University says winds in the jet stream, about 30,000 feet up, would be the ideal source to exploit. And the sky over New York is a prime spot, along with population centers in the eastern United States and East Asia.

Read more of this story »

There’s a bit of money, too, totaling about $100,000 from the federal stimulus package, aka the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Great Lakes Commission has been granted $99,740 to develop a set of “Best Practices to Accelerate Wind Power in the Great Lakes and Beyond.”

The end result will be a guide to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to protecting the environment, being sensitive to community concerns and … building wind turbines in the water.

Read more of this story »

Speaking from the American Wind Energy Association’s annual conference and expo in Chicago, CEO of Leviathan Energy, Dr. Daniel Farb, said he expects “that with the very fast return on investment the Wind Energizer can deliver, sales will be quite strong.”

Read more of this story »

Passive structure design of “Wind Energizer” by Leviathan Energy reportedly increases wind turbine efficiency 30% in field tests.

Technological advancements in wind energy efficiency have generally come incrementally and usually made via a process of increasingly large wind turbine blades. Put simply, the model has been: longer blades = more output per turbine.

But that pattern of incremental improvements may be a thing of the past if Leviathan Energy has anything to say about it. Leviathan Energy has completed initial testing on their Wind Energizer unit and is reporting gains in wind turbine output in the ballpark of 30% — and as much as 150% at lower wind speeds.

The principle theory at work is that by placing passive objects around a wind farm it will change the circulation around a large wind turbine. The advancement is not in the turbine itself, but rather in the area around it, as such, units can be adapted to any wind turbine from any manufacturer.

“This is a disruptive technology,” Leviathan Energy CEO Dr. Daniel Farb told me via telephone from Israel last week. “We are changing the environment of the wind turbine; this is a very different approach.”

Read more of this story »

Republican Congressman Joe Barton believes wind turbines may slow down the wind, thereby heating up the globe!

How do these people get elected?! graduate college?! graduate high school?! get through the day?!

Related Article

House Republicans bring strange theories and wacky witnesses to climate hearings
Mean Joe Green Cartoon Archive

Although China and India have both refused to submit to carbon emissions limits and are contributing to international stress regarding the outcome of this winter’s climate talks in Copenhagen, both countries are amping up their investment in solar power. China’s has increased its solar power target from 1.8 gigawatts to 20 gigawatts by 2020.

2. Fossil-Fuel Rich Xinjiang Uses Solar

A veritable hot bed of energy resources, Xinjiang province is rich in oil and coal but also an ideal location to host alternative energy sources like this roof-top solar panel.

Source: Washington Post; Bert van Dijk image description
Image Credit: Bert van Dijk on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Recently, India announced the approval of its National Solar Mission, the pride and joy of its National Climate Change Strategy. This project should increase India’s solar capacity from 3 megawatts (MW) to 20 gigawatts by 2020 – and if all goes according to plan, 200 GW by 2050. The project will cost approximately US$20 billion.

3. Solar Panels Soak up the Indian Sunshine

Dramatically situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, the Indian State of Uttaranchal derives energy from the sun with these residential solar panels.

Source: WorldWatch; National Portal of India
Image Credit: Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

India estimates that its National Solar Mission could bring the cost of solar down to between 4 and 5 rupees per kilowatt hour (US $.08-.10 per kWh) by 2017-2020 - an achievement that makes solar cost competitive with fossil fuels.

4. Rural Villages Benefit from Solar Technology

Even in one of the most remote Indian villages, a solar panel system is helping the community take advantage of one of its most abundant resources - sunlight.
Source: Green Inc., New York Times
Image Credit: Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Recently, South Korea boldly asserted its competitiveness in the clean energy race by announcing its five-year plant to invest 2% of its GDP in renewable energy and environment-related industries. This investment will add up to $84.5 billion dollars allocated to growing South Korea’s market share of “green technology” products, which includes clean tech R&D, hybrid cars, and solar batteries.

5. A Wind Farm High up in the Hills

A snap shot of a wind farm taken from a train traveling from Danyang to Jeongdongjin, South Korea. South Korea aims to increase its renewable energy use from 2% to 9%, to mediate sky-high oil prices and compete in the clean tech industry.
Source: Washington Post, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
Image Credit: Yewenyi on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

According to the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association, India has an installed wind power capacity of 992 MW. Commercial installation accounts for approximately 940 of those MW. Wind has contributed about 3.5 billion units of electricity to India’s grid since the country began harnessing wind power.

6. Turbine Vanes Ready for Action

A field full of wind turbine vanes awaiting construction in Belur, India.
Source: Indian Wine Turbine Manufacturers Association
Image Credit: Niveditak on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Although the Philippines makes a minuscule 1% contribution (in comparison to its Asian counterparts) to global greenhouse gas emissions, Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes emphasized the role that renewables will play in Philippines development. Both the Biofuels Act and the Renewable Energy Act, recently passed by Philippine Congress, represent landmark achievements for this developing nation.

7. Technology as Picturesque: Turbines Basking in the Sunset

A sideways view of a wind farm located on Pebble Beach in the Ilocos Norte province of the Philippines. Even in this developing economy, the Philippine government recognizes the economic, international, and environmental advantages of clean energy.
Source: Philstar.com
Image Credit: Storm Crypt on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

As the time for talks at Copenhagen draws nearer and pressure increases on U.S. President Obama to pass a climate bill, China, India, and South Korea’s clean energy actions stand to have major impacts on climate change and the outcome of the clean energy race. It remains to be seen which nation will successfully reap the economic and international benefits of dominating the global clean technology industry.

8. Solar Power in the Making

Solar panels at Yingli Solar, a leading photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer locating in Baoding, China. Baoding is a veritable renewables smorgasbord with almost 200 other renewable energy companies taking root within the city limits. According to an article published in the Christian Science Monitor, Baoding is the first carbon positive city in the world.
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Image Credit: \!/_PeacePlusOne on Flickr under a Creative Commons License

Yes, even the wind power is bigger in Texas. The Lone Star State held the top spot again in the just released American Wind Energy Association’s annual industry report.

In fact, if Texas was its own country it would rank sixth worldwide in production, with 7,118 megawatts installed. Texas added 2,671 MW just last year.

The AWEA report breaks down a record 2008 for wind power in the U.S. The U.S. now ranks ahead of Germany as the world’s top wind power producer. More than 8,500 MW of wind power came online last year, the report says, a more than 50 percent jump in U.S. production.

Read more of this story »

In this current gold rush climate for green energy words such as “biggest” and “largest” get thrown around all the time in an effort to grab some headlines.  But this project in Sweden is big no matter how you parse it.

With 1,101 turbines it would be Europe’s biggest wind farm, and as organizers told the Norrbotten county board in the region where the project would be built, possibly the biggest in the world. It would cost 55 billion kronor or roughly $6.9 billion. It would be located in the northern part of Sweden, near Markbygden and occupy 175 square miles.

Read more of this story »