• Public comment about proposed wind turbine ordinance in Pottawattamie County

    Updated: 2023-11-30 14:05:20
    More than 100 people showed up to a public hearing in Oakland, Iowa, Wednesday night. Some spoke for and against a proposed ordinance that would make it more difficult for any new wind turbines to be built in Pottawattamie County. People took the podium in front of the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors Wednesday night, and it has to do with the possibility of new wind turbines in the area. “I enjoy gazing at the stars. I can’t imagine that, . . .

  • Local officials oppose new clean energy legislation

    Updated: 2023-11-29 20:01:38
    The “Clean Energy Future Bill” aims to make Michigan use 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2040 but many municipalities are against one part of the legislation. That part of the legislation, they said, will take away some of their authorities.* “We spent a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of money on our master plans to put together the communities that they want to live in, based upon the information that they told us what they . . .

  • Internal docs show Biden admin waived taxpayer safeguards to boost offshore wind project

    Updated: 2023-11-29 17:51:14
    The Biden administration quietly granted a request from an energy firm developing an offshore wind project off the coast of Massachusetts to waive development fees designed to safeguard taxpayers, according to internal documents reviewed by Fox News Digital. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) informed Vineyard Wind that it had waived a financial assurance for decommissioning costs fee in a June 15, 2021, letter obtained by watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT). Federal statute mandates that developers pay . . .

  • Environmentalists face off against environmentalists over offshore wind projects

    Updated: 2023-11-29 15:13:14
    Offshore wind turbines are pitting environmentalists against environmentalists—threatening to impede progress toward an ambitious U.S. goal for such projects. The Energy Department estimates offshore wind turbines could produce as much as 20% of regional power needs along the densely populated Eastern Seaboard from Florida to Maine by 2050. To reach that goal, the Biden administration had hoped to green-light 30 gigawatts from utility-scale offshore wind farms by 2030—enough to power nine million homes. That now seems wildly ambitious, as billions . . .

  • New pro-EU government proposes to reduce wind turbine setback from 1,500 m to 300 m

    Updated: 2023-11-29 15:02:02
    Poland’s incoming government submitted a draft law to freeze energy prices in the first half of 2024 and liberalize rules to build wind farms. The draft law would reduce a minimum distance between a turbine and a residential area to about 300 metres from the current 1,500 metres depending on the level of noise emitted by the installation. And the draft proposes to restore the obligation to trade electricity on the country’s energy exchange, which was abolished by the outgoing . . .

  • ‘It creates obstacles’: Aviation school raises flag about proposed wind farm in Pottawattamie County

    Updated: 2023-11-29 14:56:28
    Pottawatomie County is experiencing a little more turbulence over a plan to build a wind farm near Treynor. The proposed site is where student pilots learn to fly. Revv Aviation Flight School says turbines would create obstacles for their training and even graduation due to an increased cost for students. As students touch and go from the Council Bluffs Airport Tuesday, the chief flight instructor has helped hundreds of students’ careers take off, training above hundreds of miles in the . . .

  • Newport mansions owner sues federal government over wind farm it says will mar views

    Updated: 2023-11-29 14:15:18
    Two Rhode Island preservation groups have filed lawsuits against the federal government claiming it conducted “sham regulatory reviews” when granting the permits of two offshore wind farm projects they say would block the ocean views of the historic Newport mansions. Key Facts The Preservation Society of Newport County and the Southeast Lighthouse Foundation filed lawsuits in federal court in Washington, D.C., claiming the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the projects without considering the impact to the area’s “irreplaceable character . . .

  • Another wind-energy project in jeopardy after Virginia Beach signals they won’t let cables come ashore

    Updated: 2023-11-27 21:52:15
    Two Rhode Island preservation groups have filed lawsuits against the federal government claiming it conducted “sham regulatory reviews” when granting the permits of two offshore wind farm projects they say would block the ocean views of the historic Newport mansions. Key Facts The Preservation Society of Newport County and the Southeast Lighthouse Foundation filed lawsuits in federal court in Washington, D.C., claiming the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the projects without considering the impact to the area’s “irreplaceable character . . .

  • Robbins Island wind farm ruling ‘devastating’ for orange bellied parrots

    Updated: 2023-11-27 13:58:10
    A tribunal has overturned a requirement for a proposed wind farm to shut down for five months each year to protect migrating orange bellied parrots, in a major win for the industry. Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff on Monday welcomed as “pragmatic” an appeal ruling by the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on the Robbins Island wind farm, proposed for the state’s far northwest. He said the decision effectively overruled an Environment Protection Authority ruling that would have killed the $1.6 . . .

  • Block Island and Newport preservationists fight to protect Rhode Island from massive wind farms

    Updated: 2023-11-26 14:21:26
    A month ago, after Cape May County, New Jersey, filed a federal lawsuit to stop two immense Ørsted wind farms, the company responded by announcing they were canceling their plans, leaving unfinished construction, citing their inability to predict financial pressures on the project, not widespread community opposition. Two senior staff have left the company, and management is being shifted as one project after another face an insecure future. Yesterday, Rhode Island took a double-barreled action with federal appeals being filed . . .

  • As the US begins to build offshore wind farms, scientists say many questions remain about impacts on the oceans and marine life

    Updated: 2023-11-25 13:59:11
    As renewable energy production expands across the U.S., the environmental impacts of these new sources are receiving increased attention. In a recent report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examined whether and how constructing offshore wind farms in the Nantucket Shoals region, southeast of Massachusetts, could affect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. The Conversation asked marine scientists Erin L. Meyer-Gutbrod (Assistant Professor of Earth, Ocean & Environment, University of South Carolina), Douglas Nowacek (Professor of Conservation Technology . . .

  • Newport, Block Island preservation groups sue to stop offshore wind farms

    Updated: 2023-11-25 13:46:57
    Decrying what it calls the fast-tracking of hundreds of skyscraper-high structures that would dwarf the Statue of Liberty, the Preservation Society of Newport County filed two appeals in federal court on Nov. 22 to vacate the permits issued and halt the development of two offshore wind farms planned off the Rhode Island coastline. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, two separate appeals against the approvals were also filed by the Southeast Lighthouse Foundation, based on . . .

  • Pressured by EU, Hungary agrees to reduce windpower setback from 12 km to 700 m

    Updated: 2023-11-24 14:08:18
    Hungary has reached an agreement with the European Commission to overhaul the regulation of wind farms, which has effectively made it impossible for developers to set up wind turbines anywhere in the country, Energy Minister Csaba Lantos told news radio Inforadio on November 22. In 2016, the Hungarian parliament passed a law that banned wind turbines within a 12-kilometre radius of populated areas. Up until now, the legislation left no area in Hungary where it would be possible to install . . .

  • Wind-farm moratorium on agenda for JPs

    Updated: 2023-11-23 14:18:14
    The Carroll County Quorum Court is expected to consider a proposed ordinance at its regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 21, that would establish a temporary moratorium on the construction of industrial wind or solar energy facilities in the county. The proposed ordinance, sponsored by District 2 Justice of the Peace Bruce Wright and District 7 JP Kellie Matt, comes after months of debate over Scout Clean Energy’s planned “Nimbus Projected” near Green Forest. Scout, based in Boulder, Colo., plans for the . . .

  • Preservation Society files lawsuit to fight massive wind farms and preserve historic and pristine views from industrial-scale development

    Updated: 2023-11-23 14:06:45
    The Preservation Society of Newport County, Rhode Island’s largest and nationally respected steward of historic preservation, has appealed federal agency decisions approving massive wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island. The appeals were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on November 22, 2023 and detail how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) failed to comply with the heightened levels of review required under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation . . .

  • One of RI’s top environmentalists is suing to block offshore wind project

    Updated: 2023-11-23 14:01:31
    Trudy Coxe, the former head of Save the Bay and once the top environmental official in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, dropped a bombshell on Wednesday afternoon. In her role as the head of the Newport Preservation Society (NPS), Coxe announced that her organization has filed a massive federal lawsuit to block the construction the offshore wind project off the coast of Rhode Island. NPS manages the public-facing mansions in Newport, such as The Breakers and Rosecliff, to name a few. . . .

  • Proposed wind farm project sparks concerns in Waiuku community

    Updated: 2023-11-22 13:23:37
    A controversial proposal for an 18-turbine wind farm in the pristine farmland close to Karioitahi beach has ignited a fierce battle within the local community. The project, which has been granted fast-track clearance by the government without consultation or input from the wider community, has raised concerns about its potential impact on the environment, local residents, and the tourism industry. The towering turbines, measuring an impressive 190 metres in height, have drawn comparisons to well-known world landmarks such as the . . .

  • State wants historically undeveloped Sears Island for hub to build and ship offshore wind turbines

    Updated: 2023-11-22 13:05:38
    The State of Maine intends to develop the untouched Sears Island in Searsport to build and ship offshore wind turbines, according to Downeast lawmakers who oppose the controversial project. “It is the largest undeveloped uninhabited causeway accessible island on the eastern coast of the United States,” said Rep. Lynne Williams (D-Bar Harbor) in her letter defending Rep. Reagan Paul’s (R-Winterport) proposal to stop the development of Sears Island. The lawmakers see the Sears Island project as a negative environmental effect . . .

  • German budget chaos puts industry’s green overhaul at risk

    Updated: 2023-11-21 22:18:38
    Germany’s emergency spending freeze is blocking funds for next-generation auto-industry and steel plants, jeopardizing the push to re-engineer Europe’s economic engine. Berlin halted new spending authorizations this week after Germany’s top court ruled that some €60 billion ($65.7 billion) can’t be transferred into a green-technology fund. The money was earmarked for a range of projects including decarbonizing steel production and major semiconductor works led by Intel, TSMC and Infineon. Sweden’s Northvolt AB was also due to receive part of pledged . . .

  • Chinese turbine collapse and ‘serious casualty’ prompts order for day-long local shutdown

    Updated: 2023-11-21 21:18:21
    The collapse of a wind turbine in China has prompted a state authority to order a daylong shutdown of projects in the region to tackle safety failings. The Xinjiang Supervision Office of China’s National Energy Administration issued the notice on 3 November following the collapse of a turbine being constructed by China Power Construction Barkol New Energy Co. during electrical installation work. The company is reportedly developing a 600MW wind farm using 7.15MW turbines near Hami, a city in the . . .

  • Windey Energy Technology Group wind turbine collapse causing casualties in China

    Updated: 2023-11-20 17:22:04
    According to the New Insight of Wind Power newswire in China, a serious accident occurred in the first week of November at the 600MW wind power project in Barkol Kazakh autonomous county – a part of Hami Prefecture in Xinjiang. A wind turbine tower reportedly collapsed as it was being hoisted as part of the tower’s installation. A total of five workers were working at the tower, with one person outside and four people inside. One person is dead, one . . .

  • No solar, wind farms in Green Country

    Updated: 2023-11-20 13:58:01
    The Mahoning County commissioners Thursday approved a resolution banning large solar facilities and large “economically significant wind farms” in unincorporated areas of Green Township. The commissioners approved the measure 3-0. Before the vote, Audrey Tillis, county administrator, said the public input at the Oct. 30 public hearing at Greenford Christian Church, 11767 Lisbon Road in Green Township, “was overwhelmingly in support of banning it.” She said the commissioners were there that night “to listen to the public.” She said “over . . .

  • Internal email sheds light on wind-power bribery scandal

    Updated: 2023-11-19 13:47:22
    A former president of Japan Wind Development, currently at the center of a bribery scandal, told executives of the firm that he had asked a lawmaker to make a parliamentary statement in connection with the company’s operations, informed sources said Saturday. Masayuki Tsukawaki, 64, sent an email to multiple Japan Wind Development executives saying that he urged House of Representatives member Masatoshi Akimoto, 48, who was arrested for allegedly receiving bribes, to ask a question in the country’s parliament about . . .

  • Maine lawmakers will consider banning eminent domain for Aroostook wind project

    Updated: 2023-11-18 14:10:31
    Top Maine lawmakers agreed Thursday to advance a bill to the 2024 session that would prohibit the use of eminent domain to build a controversial transmission line between Aroostook County and the Augusta area. The 10-member Legislative Council initially did not approve the proposal from Sen. Chip Curry, D-Belfast, while voting last week on 283 bill requests for 2024. However, the panel returned on Thursday to hear appeals from lawmakers who sponsored measures that were rejected, voting 9-1 to advance . . .

  • Politicians come out against Gulf of Maine offshore wind proposal

    Updated: 2023-11-17 20:42:24
    U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, and Maine Gov. Janet Mills have sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), urging them to completely exclude Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA 1) from the Wind Energy Area (WEA) for potential wind power development in the Gulf of Maine. The letter was sent following last month’s release of the draft WEA which excluded much of LMA 1 but identified two Secondary Areas . . .

  • Fenwick committee urges opposition to wind farms

    Updated: 2023-11-17 13:58:21
    Please note Nov. 20 on your calendars as an important deadline for sending comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy (BOEM) regarding proposals for the US Wind Marwin and Momentum Wind offshore wind projects: While it may be difficult for individuals to make their voices heard, BOEM’s hearing does provide an official forum for everyone to express opinions. As such, we urge you to record your opposition for a proposed project that will essentially destroy Delaware’s marine environment and coastal . . .

  • Harvey County bans large-scale wind farms and solar farms

    Updated: 2023-11-17 13:53:35
    Companies will not be allowed to build wind and solar farms in Harvey County. The Harvey County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to ban commercial wind and utility-scale solar renewable energy projects in the county. The new regulation still allows personal wind and solar energy installations, such as those used at homes, and limited-scale solar construction. The Harvey County Planning and Zoning Advisory Board recommended a code change. With the county commission’s vote, it becomes official as soon as the legal . . .

  • Wind farms graft probe: Audit report finds ‘irregularities’ and big profits for Mauricio Macri, Carlos Tevez

    Updated: 2023-11-17 13:46:09
    Auditors in Argentina have identified “serious irregularities” in bidding processes for the construction and oversight of wind farms to produce renewable energy during the 2015-2019 Mauricio Macri administration. Investigators at the AGN General Auditing Office probing alleged insider trading allegations drew the conclusion after investigating the tender of six wind farms in Argentina’s south. Among the famous names indirectly involved in the probe are the Macri Group, owned and operated by relatives and former business associates of Mauricio Macri, along . . .

  • Cloghan residents say local wind farm is affecting their mental and physical health

    Updated: 2023-11-16 14:32:24
    A number of residents living beside the nine turbines of Cloghan Wind Farm have told the Midland Tribune that the enormous turbines are having a negative effect on their mental and physical health. Several of the residents living on the one road in the townland of Stonestown said they are fed up with the noise and the flicker coming from the turbines, which have a maximum height of 169 metres and are located about 700 metres from their homes. Chairperson . . .

  • Broome County’s new wind farm generating noise complaints

    Updated: 2023-11-16 14:28:27
    Some people who live near the turbines of a recently-constructed wind farm east of Binghamton are already fed up with the noise generated by the facility. The Bluestone Wind Project in eastern Broome County was commissioned in September. It consists of 26 turbines in the towns of Windsor and Sanford. Each 240-foot-long turbine is mounted to a 350-foot-tall post. Four of the turbines are in Windsor with most of the units of the 122-megawatt project in Sanford. The units are . . .

  • Stephens County property owners fight against wind turbine project ‘jeopardizing’ land, NextEra sites benefits to farm

    Updated: 2023-11-16 14:14:22
    A group of property owners in Stephens County is fighting against a potential project placing wind turbines on the land. The county’s commissioners will soon be voting on whether to give the wind turbine company a tax abatement, which residents believe will determine if the project will be completed. Zola George has about 320 acres of land he’s kept with his high school sweetheart since they were first married, “We’ve been enjoying that place since the mid-80s, I’ve taken my . . .

  • Chinese-owned chunk of Europe’s biggest wind farm hits financial rocks after record power deal debacle

    Updated: 2023-11-16 14:04:16
    The 653MW Markbygden Ett wind farm – a sub-project of Europe’s largest wind complex Markbygden – has filed for restructuring proceedings with the Umeå district court in northern Sweden after getting into financial difficulties, apparently due to an unprofitable power purchase agreement (PPA) with Norwegian aluminium giant Hydro. The wind farm operator closed a corporate PPA with Hydro in 2017, which then was claimed to be the world’s largest green power offtake agreement. Under the terms of the PPA, Markbygden . . .

  • Britain to boost offshore wind auction power price guarantees by 66%

    Updated: 2023-11-16 13:56:48
    Britain will increase the guaranteed price offered for offshore wind projects in its next renewables auction by 66%, the government said on Thursday, as it seeks to spur more projects after its last auction failed to attract any offshore wind investment. Britain, which is already the world’s second largest offshore wind market after China, is seeking to ramp up its capacity to 50 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from around 14 GW now, to help meet its climate targets and boost . . .

  • The need to reduce light pollution from wind energy facilities is real

    Updated: 2023-11-15 15:07:34
    The debate over alternative energy facilities, including the massive windmills that decorate eastern rural Washington is nothing new. It’s a debate that continues to stir emotions on both sides of the equation. You may recall the legislation I introduced last year that would have allowed rural communities to have a voice in the clean energy facility siting process. Developing a solid strategy to create a quality, clean, and transmittable energy grid for both the short- and long-term is essential for . . .

  • Ørsted asks for more government cash amid doubts over flagship wind farm project

    Updated: 2023-11-15 14:40:25
    The UK’s leading offshore wind developer is in talks with Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho about the fate of its flagship project off the coast of Norfolk, after spiralling costs cast doubt over its viability. Ørsted, the Danish renewable energy giant, is understood to be in talks with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, led by Ms Coutinho, about securing more generous subsidy arrangements for its Hornsea 3 wind farm project. It would see 231 turbines installed off . . .

  • State acting against Tasmanian interests in wind farm case, Labor claims

    Updated: 2023-11-15 14:35:06
    Lawyers for a government agency are acting against the interests of Tasmania in an ongoing legal case, by arguing that a decision forcing a proposed wind farm development to shut down for half the year should be upheld, Labor has claimed in parliament. At the start of the year, the state’s Environmental Protection Agency ruled that wind project proponent ACEN must shut its wind farm for five months of the year to protect an an endangered species of migrating bird. . . .

  • NSW blots out nearly entire state for wind projects – few areas deemed “desirable” for turbines

    Updated: 2023-11-15 14:28:33
    The NSW government has blotted out nearly the entire state as “less suitable” for wind farms, with few if any areas deemed “desirable” for new projects under new draft planning guidelines issued on Tuesday. The guidelines, which include hefty new fees for wind and solar projects to provide funds to local communities as a way of overcoming social licence issues, are ostensibly about fast-tracking the planning process for new projects. Some developers, however, have deemed the new fees as a . . .

  • Wind farm objector rages over forged document – ‘Isn’t it a criminal offence?’

    Updated: 2023-11-15 14:12:53
    A key name in the objections against Watten Wind Farm says she has had a fake document sent in under her name to remove her objection to the plan. Robianne (Bib) Harrold has property adjacent to the area where EDF Renewables intends to erect seven 220m high turbines – the tallest in the UK – and has been very vocal about her objection to the plan, having sent in an official objection to the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) and to . . .

  • Vandals target Hawick wind turbine blade delivery

    Updated: 2023-11-15 13:59:11
    Vandals have targeted the delivery of wind turbine blades to a development in the Scottish Borders. Developers Energiekontor said a lifter vehicle involved in transportation to the Pines Burn project near Hawick had been damaged. It led to the cancellation of a delivery planned for Tuesday while repairs were carried out. The company said it hoped it would be able to resume on Friday once the lifter was fixed. The blade delivery was paused in a layby near Selkirk last . . .

  • ‘Unfavourable’ weather hits wind power production at SSE

    Updated: 2023-11-15 13:34:46
    Energy company SSE doubled down on its outlook for the year even as poor weather conditions and delays to a wind farm hit power production at the company’s renewables arm. SSE said it has seen a big drop in production from its onshore wind farms, down from 1.2 terawatt hours (TWh) in the first six months of last year to 788 gigawatt hours (GWh). It was not enough to offset a big rise in the electricity coming from the company’s . . .

  • Fire-damaged wind turbine being dismantled

    Updated: 2023-11-15 13:24:58
    A wind turbine north of Goderich that went up in flames in June of this year is finally being dismantled. The blades and nacelle of the fire-ravaged turbine were being taken apart by a crane Tuesday. The turbine, located on Golf Course Road, caught fire in the early morning hours of June 3, 2023. Goderich fire crews contained the blaze to the turbine itself, letting the fire burn itself out after several hours due to the 100-metre height of the . . .

  • Cape Cod residents say no to offshore wind transmission lines under beaches

    Updated: 2023-11-15 13:13:48
    Three iconic beaches are slated to be landing spots for high-voltage cables carrying power from offshore wind. But not if these residents get their way. The scene at Barnstable High School on a recent Monday night felt like a homecoming rally – all anxious energy, cheers, and hugs. A crush of bodies flooded the hallway as revelers greeted friends and handed out fliers to people pouring into the auditorium. Except these weren’t high schoolers filling the corridor. This was a public . . .

  • Coalition files intent to sue federal agencies to stop whale-killing Virginia wind project

    Updated: 2023-11-14 20:23:13
    The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Marine Fisheries Service have violated federal law by finding that the Virginia Offshore Wind project will not result in the destruction of the North Atlantic right whale as a species.

  • Yorkshire moors could get England’s biggest wind farm in threat to blanket bog habitat

    Updated: 2023-11-14 15:21:52
    Calderdale Windfarm Ltd is exploring options for 65 turbines on Walshaw Moor, near the Walshaw Dean reservoirs above Hebden Bridge in Calderdale. The company said the scheme would generate enough electricity to power more than 286,000 homes a year. Environmental campaigners warned the development would disturb peat bogs, releasing carbon into the atmosphere. A spokesperson for Calderdale Windfarm, which is backed by Worldwide Renewable Energy (WWRE), said the proposal was an “incredibly exciting opportunity”. “During a cost-of-living crisis, with ongoing . . .

  • Stor vindkraftspark i kris – ansöker om rekonstruktion

    Updated: 2023-11-13 14:59:40
    [The largest onshore windpower facility in Europe, the Chinese-owned Markbygden Ett in Sweden, has applied for reconstruction after signing 19-year contract with Norwegian Hydro Energi for set volumes of electricity at a fixed price, such that they pay market price to make up shortfalls. The forecast for 2023 is that expenses will far exceed income. Hydro Energi has opposed the decision on corporate restructuring.] The reason is that the Chinese-owned company has concluded a very unprofitable agreement to sell electricity . . .

  • Parliamentary committee investigates fake signatures on Illawarra wind farm petition

    Updated: 2023-11-13 14:58:39
    Almost 200 signatures have been found to be duplicates in an anti-wind farm petition that attracted over 11,000 signatures. The petition was presented to the House of Representatives today. Labor MP Susan Templeman, chair of the Petitions Committee, said that following reporting in the Mercury which revealed that anti-wind farm campaigners had offered prizes or vouchers for anti-wind farm signatures, the committee secretariat investigated whether the signatures on the petition were real. The secretariat found that nearly 200 names or . . .

  • Japanese Americans were jailed in a desert. Survivors worry a wind farm will overshadow the past.

    Updated: 2023-11-12 18:23:27
    Behind the barbed wire, the little boy pressed his ink-covered index finger onto the mint-green exit card. And a photograph was snapped of his frightened face. Paul Tomita was four. It was July 4, 1943. Independence Day at Minidoka, a camp in the vast Idaho desert, where over 13,000 Japanese American men, women and children were incarcerated during World War II as security risks because of their ancestry. The wallet-sized paper meant the scared boy in the photo could leave . . .

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