This section archives articles on topics that don't quite fit into the other categories. They include articles on high-mileage vehicles, chain-reaction accidents, our neighbors, Tule fog, and . . . well . . . other subjects.
Paul Gipe
The report stated that 'some 80,000 ha of national park were destroyed by a wildfire ignited by the turbine debris' and gave an Australian Broadcasting Commission report as a reference. In fact, the...
With thanks to the long-lasting science Crackpot Index, this Wind Crank Index is intended to provide a simple way to figure out how you should invest your time: helping the person understand more...
The energy payback period for the two turbine models are found to be 5.2 and 6.4 months, respectively.
Germany’s leading economics institute DIW has published a 36-page report in English on how the amendments to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) will impact the cost of capital for wind power investors....
Even if Denmark had its own 'wind turbine syndrome' organisation, I strongly suspect the phenomenon wouldn't take hold. The Middelgrunden Wind Farm happens to be half-owned by Middelgrunden Wind...
Eurogate wants to make seven million kWh available with the wind power farm and also its newly constructed combined heat and power plant (CHP). Eurogate also generates power from photovoltaic...
Nicely done map portraying the growth of wind energy worldwide from 1980 to the present sorted by country.
Smart people reinvent variations of these things fairly often. People get enthused about them, get people to invest, build prototypes which don’t work as hoped. The prototypes get abandoned and...
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kingston Environmental Committee in collaboration with Tourism Kingston and Tourism Wolfe Island.
Citizens of Greensburg live so close to wind turbines it is a bit astonishing. The local hospital’s turbine is just across the driveway, only twenty yards or so from the building. The local Best...
Logical fallacies are everywhere. Flick open the newspaper and hear the latest assertion from your politician-of-choice, and you'll see one being used to advocate a course of action, framed in...
Vote Compass users overall say wind energy should be a significant source of Ontario’s electricity supply mix - but that view is not shared by respondents who identified as supporters of the...
A German startup launches a crowdfunding campaign tomorrow for its “wind kites,” and it is doing so by bad-mouthing the wonderful stuff we have. These folks resort to crowdfunding because people who...
Solar Roadways is one of the most successful crowd funding campaigns on the Indiegogo platform ever. But don’t believe the hype – this idea is going nowhere, and no one is going anywhere on “solar...
If we allow ourselves to be deceived by the fossil-fuel industry and their fabricated worries about birds, then we will be refusing to look the future squarely in the face. We must end our addiction...
Half of respondents to national survey would welcome a new wind farm within five miles of their home
In an interview last September with CBC News, Studzienny said he refused treatment to certain councillors on M'Chigeeng and Little Current councils because he is opposed to wind turbines and was...
Windpower Ownership in Sweden: Business models and motives, the new book by Tore Wizelius helps English-speakers understand how Swedes have taken a sizable ownership of wind energy in spite of their...[more]
Basilio Brazao, a 19-year-old Brazilian construction worker, was working inside the turbine at the Earlsburn wind farm near Fintry, Stirlingshire on May 22, 2007 when he fell.
A small airplane heading back to South Dakota after a Texas cattle sale crashed into a wind farm in foggy weather, killing the pilot and three passengers.
The urgent need for rapid decarbonisation of our electricity system means we have to research, build, test and deploy a raft of new technologies, all in a short time period. As new technology...
Charles Keating died recently. His death marked a milestone in American political history. His crimes and those of my nephew illustrates one of the truisms in America often attributed to Al Capone....[more]
We can't prove negatives. If I tell you that there's a teapot orbiting Earth, and you can't provide evidence that there isn't, it doesn't mean that I'm right, or that there's a 50/50 chance that I'm...
In general, wind energy proposals were started by wind developers and firms who saw clearly that there was massive social license for wind farms in every survey and poll ever done. They typically...
I began writing as a way to explore the world, learn something new, and make a difference. It has been that--and more. I've been more or less freelancing since the mid 1970s when I published an...[more]
I think windmills are beautiful. They harness the wind's power to supply us with heat and light. They provide local jobs. They help clean air and reduce climate change.
Daniel Wetzel at WELT reports on a new nationwide anti-wind organization recently founded in Germany. The name of the new lobby group is “Vernunftkraft” (reason power). I am not linking to them, but...
Recently, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) released a comprehensive position statement on the curiously invulnerable issue of 'wind turbine syndrome'. One phrase from the statement caught my...
A proposed wind turbine installation near Camp Perry in Northwestern Ohio has recently been halted (see article) by environmental groups that turn out to have connections to the oil, gas and tourism...
The available Australian and international evidence does not support the view that the infrasound or low frequency sound generated by wind farms, as they are currently regulated in Australia, causes...
Tehachapi’s Windmill-Wildflower Hike is one of the longest-running annual walks among wind turbines worldwide. More than 800 people, from children to octogenarians, have taken the six-mile walk...[more]
GE's enclosed-lattice, five-legged space frame prototype, sited at the company's Tehachapi, California facility, is 97 meters tall . . .
Natural News isn't an easy website to browse. If you're conscious of the impact of the anti-vaccination movement, the content on the website quickly goes from mildly-entertaining weirdness to real,...
Japan hasn’t seen an appreciable increase in wind power in the past few years despite the start of the feed-in tariff system designed to boost renewable energy, but it still has potential and the...
NIMBY — Not In My Back Yard — is a nice crisp acronym and gets bandied about a lot when discussing opposition to wind energy and other renewables. But it is inadequate as a categorization of the...
Creation Care merges faith with proactive solutions to protect God’s creation. Next week, the season of Lent begins for millions of faithful people around the world. To mirror the 40 days of Lent,...
Australia’s peak health research body has again found there is no reliable evidence that windfarms harm human health, but the Abbott government is promising to commission further “comprehensive”...
The draft Information Paper provides a summary of the available scientific evidence. Based on the evidence, the paper concludes that “there is no reliable or consistent evidence that wind farms...
This report takes the number of reviews published on the issue since 2003 to 20. And all have reached the same broad conclusions.
Since 1998 there have been 45 hearings held under rules of legal evidence in at least five English-speaking countries and four types of courts regarding wind energy, noise and health. Forty-four...
In a new study, researchers from Imperial College Business School carried out a comprehensive nationwide analysis of the UK fleet of wind turbines, using local wind speed data from NASA. They showed...
for California State University Northridge, 5 March, 2014, Energy Alternatives for California's Future (check against delivery)
The UBA study found 13.8% of land area suitable for wind energy; 49,000 km2, and that with contemporary wind turbines there is the astonishing 1,200,000 MW capable of generating 2,900 TWh/yr. This is...[more]
Of the wind turbines installed in 2012, only 28% were installed on green field sites in Niedersachsen and only 20% in Schleswig-Holstein. The rest were installed as replacements for existing turbines...[more]
German wind power organization Deutsche WindGuard has published its estimates for newly installed wind power capacity for the previous year, and the results are better than expected. 2013 turns out...
More than 80 percent of Icelanders support the construction of wind turbines for energy production, as indicated in a recent survey carried out by Capacent Gallup on behalf of Landsvirkjun, the...
Never before has Energinet.dk incorporated so much wind power in the Danish power system as in 2013, and never before did the wind turbines generate what corresponds to more than 50 per cent of the...
Wind power was the main source of energy in Spain last year for the first time ever and also for the first time ever in any country, according to the industry association AEE.
Note: January 14, 2014; Miracle of Miracles. We’re in. Our payment has cleared. They’ve taken our money. We received our "cards" 20 January and the first invoice. I went on line to pay for the next...[more]
These are real fears of unreal things. They are strongly promoted by anti-wind advocacy groups. It is strongly arguable that anti-wind advocates drive down property prices in the run up to wind farms...
As blogger Ketan Joshi has observed, unlike any other disease “wind turbine syndrome” seems to be a health problem that occurs mainly in English-speaking countries.
In a surprising finding, a joint study by the University of Connecticut andLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center concluded that property values increased...[more]
Section 6 covering renewables statistics of the latest edition of 'Energy trends' publication.
An analysis of more than 122,000 Massachusetts home sales between 1998 and 2012 found no statistically-significant evidence that proximity to a wind turbine affects home values.
Archivists at the York County Heritage Trust have uncovered a treasure trove of records from the 1.25 MW Smith-Putnam turbine of the early 1940s. The museum archives records of the S. Morgan Smith...[more]
Eric Gillespie, anti-wind lawyer, received a great amount more of legal fees to fail yet again in this extensive appeal. You would think that the people who keep paying him would eventually realize...
Tired of hearing these comments about renewable power, but don't know how to reply? Saskatoon Community Wind has come up with a list of common wind power myths along with snappy responses.
If you’re going to join the public debate on our climate and energy future, should you have to disclose who you work for? Or should you be allowed to create a front group out of thin air to attack...
It's hard to believe, but the tempest over wind energy may be losing speed. . . But now, in at least some parts of the province, particularly around Lake Erie, the statistics appear to show people...
You can find here wind-power generation forecasts, real-time estimates of actual wind-power generation, and historical wind-power generation data.
Speeches, press releases, and announcements by DECC and its ministers.
People have been living with utility-scale wind turbines for 50 years. Now they have great video cameras on their iPhones and access to YouTube and Vimeo. Here are a great bunch of videos where...
A new survey finds that the wind turbines in Freiburg, Germany, are once again very popular after a brief concern over the impact on bats. The strangest thing was the timing of the bat issue.
This document sets out decisions on the Contract for Difference (CfD) strike prices for renewable technologies for the period 2014/15-2018/19, and provides an update on the key CfD contract terms
The tribunal found the current state of scientific opinion was that there was no causal link of a physiological nature between adverse health effects and wind turbines. It was given no evidence at...
What links the phenomena of allegedly stressed emus, dancing cattle and disoriented echidnas? Nothing but the ill-founded trend to blame anything and everything on wind farms
The most interesting places on Earth are the subduction zones where tectonic plates of science and emotion scrape relentlessly. Buried in these dynamic boundaries we find the most telling insights...
It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything to say about the American Wind Energy Association. To my surprise AWEA published a few photos from my collection in their recent calendar. One is of a...[more]
A new study reveals that more than three quarters of those surveyed in Switzerland support wind power, and roughly the same number say there is "no" or "only a minor" affect on people in surrounding...
The old canard of 14,000 abandoned wind turbines in California came up again recently in Australia of all places. A rabid anti-wind blogger—seems the Aussies have a good crop of them downunder—posted...[more]
I've added several new categories of cultural icons featuring wind turbines and updated some others. I've added categories for Book and Magazine Covers, Organic Chicken, Toys & Model Railroads, Pop...[more]
Even at 30% penetration, results indicate that the PJM system can handle the additional renewable integration with sufficient reserves and transmission build out.
A dramatic fall in income, coupled with rising energy costs, is seeing increasing number of farmers turning to wind turbines as an additional source of revenue ahead of looming energy regulator...
Michigan now has nearly 900 wind turbines, and that lit a lightbulb in the entrepreneurial mind of retired teacher Gene Jorissen. Last summer, he started leading hour-long bus tours of the...
The growth of wind power, if undertaken with reasonable care, should pose no risk to any particular bird species in Canada, according to a new peer-reviewed study. The study also suggests that highly...
Since the Waubra wind farm started generating power in 2009, the town has acquired a dubious reputation: the so-called `Waubra Disease’ is now known internationally. But how much sense does it make? ...
For several years, a Portuguese research group has been touting the horrors of something they termed “vibroacoustic disease” or VAD, claiming that this was a physiological affliction due to extended...
Based on our best estimate, Germany managed to get 34 percent of its electricity from wind and solar over a 24-hour period on Sunday – measured in gigawatt-hours, not gigawatts. Prices on the...
Typically, we listen to experts, particularly when they're telling us about imminent danger. Yet, climate scientists have been burdened with an effective, angry and motivated crowd of climate...
Somewhat surprisingly, the oil and gas industry and wind turbines, which have both been blamed for causing bird deaths, didn't make it onto the list of top killers.
We estimated impacts on birds from the development and operation of wind turbines in Canada considering both mortality due to collisions and loss of nesting habitat. We estimated collision mortality...
Sustainable renewable energy (RE) policies must be based on a wise mix between technologies and applications. In the case of variable but predictable RE technologies such as wind power and solar PV,...
Peter Marra was responding to the deaths of an estimated 7,500 migrating songbirds at a gas plant in Saint John, New Brunswick over the weekend.
As each of anti-wind types’ arguments get shot down in flames, they usually resort to more and more outlandish claims. One of the most outlandish is that research on sonic or acoustic weapons is...
People who host wind turbines on their properties and derive rental income from wind energy companies have important stories to tell about living alongside turbines, but they’ve largely been absent...
Have you read an article or comment thread online that contains anti-wind myths and disinformation but didn’t have the resources at your fingertips to counter the spin? This post is intended to let...
I am posting a link to this article for its discourse on modern manias that could be compared to the panic caused in some communities by anti-wind energy activists, mostly in the English-speaking...
Most of the time, Esperance uses all the electricity the wind farms produce, and the power station makes up any shortfall so that a reliable supply of electricity is always available.
moking-related diseases caused 14,900 deaths in 2004-05, there have been 4,700 deaths from mesothelioma since the 1980’s, and during the thalidomide crisis, 10,000 children were born with birth...
Wind Turbine Noise: Rumors, Gossip, Lies, and Stories-- is a lovely little book--56 pages—I’ve had on the shelf for some time with the intent of reviewing it for its insights on the nature of...[more]
More than 80 percent of Icelanders support the construction of wind turbines for energy production, as indicated in a recent survey carried out by Capacent Gallup on behalf of Landsvirkjun, the...
Sharing Course Materials via wind-works.org[more]
Commercial availability of the new IEC3A wind turbine models, which have been specifically designed for high productivity in low and light wind conditions, opens new opportunities for onshore wind...
Ten Mile Lagoon wind farm on the south coast of West Australia was commissioned 20-years ago. The pioneering wind-diesel system at the remote community of Esperance cost AUS$5.8 million in 1993 to...[more]
As sportsmen we support oil and gas producers who develop energy responsibly. And we should support renewable energy projects that will help reduce climate change and protect our hunting and fishing...
Berkeley Lab analyzed more than 50,000 home sales near 67 wind facilities in 27 counties across nine U.S. states. In summary, the research did not find any statistically identifiable impacts of wind...
Long awaited, low specific capacity-high specific area turbines are the kind of technology needed to make wind energy an essential low-cost component of moving society toward 100% renewable energy.[more]
The Waubra Foundation, Australia's key player in the spread of health fears around wind energy, have stepped up their efforts - a flashy new website has popped up, adorned with brazen statements in...
The question about what to do with wind turbines after they’ve reached the end of their useful lives is often raised out of fear that derelict wind turbines will litter the landscape. As I’ve...[more]
Because of a flood of misinformation about what it costs to dismantle wind turbines, I’ve chosen to post a section from my 1995 book on the topic. Note that this was written nearly two decades ago.[more]
There have been 17 reviews of the evidence about wind farms and health published internationally. Each of these reviews have concluded that wind turbines can annoy a minority of people who live near...
I am posting this data for its historical context and because the question of specific capacity has come to the fore as wind turbine manufacturers are now offering IEC Class IIIA turbines with very...[more]
In my 1995 book, Wind Energy Comes of Age, I discuss various measures of wind turbine productivity, including the misleading expression capacity factor. This discussion follows an explanation of how...[more]
The capacity or size of wind turbines and what that means relative to how much electricity they will generate often confuses journalists, renewable energy advocates, policymakers, and even...[more]
Jürgen Peters, Professor of Sustainable Development at Eberswalde College in Germany, found (PDF) that 32 percent of tourists and locals do not mind wind turbines at all, while only 9.2 percent do....
In an interesting study by an Australian consulting company, the acousticians found that complaints about noise were directly related to the attitude of receptors toward the perceived aesthetic...[more]
Addition of wind generation to a large power system does not require construction of back-up generating capacity.
A recent study by the Pembina Institute found that there have been only six complaints about wind energy in the province during the 12-year period surveyed.[more]
In a significant victory for the UK wind sector over anti-wind propagandists, the UK Advertising Standards Authority have banned a leaflet stating that a 5.4MW wind farm planned for Wiltshire would...
“It is erroneous to interpret the reasons as establishing a precedent for the degree of proof required to establish a decrease in property values in these circumstances,” wrote Justice Healey in her...
No other province in Canada has a longer history with wind energy than Alberta, which has 20 years of experience with utility-scale wind farms. Yet, unlike some parts of the country, we don’t tend to...
A group of landowners who unsuccessfully sued a wind power developer and the farm corporation that leased it land have been ordered to pay legal costs of $107,370.78. . . the proposed eight-turbine...
Climate change is a debacle for the Australian right. Their tribal hatred of environmentalists has driven them to denounce any technology favoured by their enemies
Jamie Baxter from Western's Department of Geography and his team explore the conundrum that while a relatively strong majority of rural Ontarians actually living with turbines in their farming...
Researchers found 69% of residents surveyed in an area home to one of Ontario’s first large turbine projects support them, but support dropped to 25% in a community that didn’t have turbines, said...
I’ve been working with wind energy for more than three decades. In the early days I dreamed that there might be some adventurous souls in my home town of Alexandria, Indiana who might take a stab at...[more]
In short, the BBC journalist practiced "fair and balanced" journalism. If there are people who want wind power, there must be some who oppose it. In doing so, the BBC gave a tremendous voice to a...
A British diver has died during underwater construction work for the 108MW Riffgat wind park off the German island of Borkum, local police and utility EWE said.
One of the B-movie monsters of wind energy that hasn’t lurched out of the woodshed recently, the splitting maul still stuck in its thick skull, is the favoured meme that somehow the World Health...
Renowned for its development of geothermal energy, Iceland has longed downplayed the potential of wind energy on the windy island nation in the middle of the North Atlantic. Until now....[more]
The Senate today passed a motion by Greens Health Spokesperson, Dr Richard Di Natale, calling on the Australian Vaccination Network to disband and to cease its “harmful and unscientific scare...
Expectations can make you ill. Fear can make you fragile. Understanding the nocebo effect may help prevent this painful phenomenon.
As fewer favourable high-wind speed sites are available, interest in effectively exploiting regions with lower wind speeds is growing worldwide. But in order to optimise results at these locations,...
I've written before about what is real "urban wind" and in that article I've sited several examples. There are so many examples of functioning, productive "urban wind" worldwide that I don't bother...[more]
Assessing the quality of medical literature is challenging. Assessing the quality of wind energy and health related literature is easier, because the number of people publishing in the field is...
It is one of the most comprehensive collection of conspiracy theories I have seen in a while. The site itself offers a fascinating study of how conspiracy theorists operate - and, potentially, tells...
An impressive line-up of speakers including the master debunker of the mythical “Wind Turbine Syndrome”, Professor Simon Chapman, attracted a large crowd of enthusiastic renewables supporters....
The world's biggest wind turbine manufacturer is joining forces with environmental groups in a global campaign to rouse the "silent majority" of people who support renewable energy to fight back...
13.8% of Germany is suitable for wind energy. This land area could hold 1,190,000 MW and could generate 2,900 TWh/yr. New turbines could reduce the land area required by 3/4 and still produce 2,400...
THE wind may be turning in the favour of building more wind farms to produce renewable energy in Australia. . . In an online survey conducted by Essential Research, 76 per cent of respondents...
Anti-wind groups will no doubt continue to disseminate hyperbolic misinformation through the veil of secretive front organisations, compensating for a lack of evidence with the assumed authority of a...
Anti-wind farm activists are blaming turbines for everything from herpes to doubling power prices
I've posted photos from the late 1980s of Germany's first wind farm as well as its failed experiment with Growian.
Voters soundly rejected a question on Tuesday's ballot that would have funded the removal of two town-owned wind turbines. . . The question was rejected 6,001 to 2,940, with 67 percent voting against...
I've posted archival photos of one-bladed wind turbines in Germany and Italy under the section Large Wind Turbines.
It has been 10 years since the Nine Mile Beach wind farm was commissioned and 20 years since the Ten Mile Lagoon wind farm was commissioned. . .
Though the researchers set out to show how irresponsible reports in the media can trigger a nocebo effect, they ended up showing how easy it is to make a person feel sick with just a a prop and a few...
Further study, as demanded by opponents of wind, will appropriately continue, and will take time. Given, however, the well-documented and peer-reviewed evidence thus far, there is no medical...
If wind turbines were as “bad” for you as windbaggers in the US would like you to believe, there should be a lot of body bags piling up in places like Germany, Denmark, and, well, Iowa – places that...
Capacity factor is an indicator of how many hours a year a power generator runs. Today, guest author Bernard Chabot talks about how surprisingly high capacity factors are for wind turbines in areas...
Want to get a sense of what Germans think of all this talk--in English--about wind turbines making people sick? Then take a look at this little video. Germany has more wind turbines close to people...
Practice your German and learn what Germans think of all those wind turbines spinning away on their landscape.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the peak national body for research in Australia, issued a Public Statement: Wind Turbines and Health - July 2010 that there was no published...
However, the available evidence does not support claims that inaudible sounds can have direct physiological effects. Physiological effects on humans have only been detected at levels that are...
Theologian, popular author, renewables activist, TV personality, Franz Alt is something of a phenomenon in Germany. Unfortunately for us Anglophones, Alt writes only in German. So it was a pleasant...[more]
Update: The most current database for the number of fatal accidents in the wind industry. Below is a summary table from the spreadsheet. Note that there are four other tabs not reproduced here. . . [more]
Wine labels often celebrate the local landscape, the paysage in French. So it is fitting that vineyards add scenes depicting landscapes with wind turbines to their wine labels. . .
While many misconstrue "urban" wind turbines as those mounted atop or integrated into buildings, true urban wind turbines are commercial-scale turbines placed in or near cities, towns, and villages....
The case of the increasingly vocal lobby groups against wind farms in populated areas is based on the idea that widely accepted scientific principles are wrong. . .
Consistency is important. When you are faced with a severe deficiency of empirical evidence, you must turn to tactic. The anti-wind lobby uses one tactic with regularity - the generation of enormous...
Test case upholds complaint from RWE Npower Renewables that Milton Keynes Council acted unlawfully with turbine restrictions . . .
Wind turbines are culturally identified with environmental stewardship, and a green, healthy future. So it is fitting that the Postal Service is celebrating Earth Day 2013 with a postmark depicting...
These results fit in with a longer literature on what has come to be known as “motivated reasoning.” Other things being equal, people tend to believe what they want to believe, and to disbelieve new...
Research by Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber shows that there is no basis to the anti-wind activists claims of a ‘thirty to fifty percent drop’ in property values near wind farms. . .
Interesting paper for the possible connections between anti-science climate deniers and the anti-wind industry. Both are fond of conspiracy theories. . .
The results of {the study “NASA faked the moon landing — Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax”} implied that conspiratorial thinking is linked to climate denial, and hence might emerge in turn to...
There's naturally a push to stop further investment in renewables - but here's the second hard truth: the cat is out of the bag: once renewable energy reaches a critical mass, its impact on power...
Public concern about new technology infrastructure like mobile phone masts has been shown to trigger reports of ill health… and recently even the new ‘green’ technology of wind turbines has been...
Public concern about new technology infrastructure like mobile phone masts has been shown to trigger reports of ill health… and recently even the new 'green' technology of wind turbines has been...
Factors unrelated to noise may explain some of the annoyance reported in the few epidemiological studies of wind turbine noise. These factors include being able to see wind turbines from home, having...
Earlier this week researchers at the University of Auckland published an experimental study showing that people primed by watching online information about health problems from wind turbines,...
A surge in health complaints linked to wind farms could owe more to increased discussion of health risk than the low-level sound generated by the actual turbines, according to a new study. . .
Health complaints from people living around turbines shown to be psychological effect of anti-wind lobby making people worry . . .
Background and objectives With often florid allegations about health problems arising from wind turbine exposure now widespread in parts of rural Australia and on the internet, nocebo effects...
One of the B movie unkillable wind energy myths — it just keeps coming back even after it’s been run over by truckloads of facts, disembowelled by logic and burnt to a crisp by the light of reason —...
Dismissing this as one of the "flakier arguments" in the renewables debate, Smith points to a recent analysis National Grid undertook for the Scottish Parliament. It concluded that over an 18 month...
The lowly potato has a story to tell and it's a parable about modern attitudes toward wind energy. . .[more]
The event marks the 28th year of the annual spring hike. More than 800 people, from children to octogenarians, have taken the six-mile walk across Cameron Ridge since the event was first launched. . .[more]
An ongoing area of enthusiasm and often fruitless investment is the area of high-altitude wind generation. Numerous companies have products which are hyped as replacing the iconic white tower with...
As such, wind farms will generally see replacement of old turbines and emplacement of new wind turbines in adjacent areas. This has been the case in major wind farm areas in California, Nevada,...
Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook is a book that has been out for some time and though I’ve thoroughly marked up my copy I’ve never got around to posting a proper review. So...[more]
Driven by media and online coverage of the idea, many believe that things like wifi and cell-phone signals are making them ill. There’s no good evidence that such ‘electrosmog‘ causes health...
There’s an anti-wind energy myth floating around that refuses to die. The most recent siting was in the official policy of an Australian political party, the Democratic Labour Party of Australia....
There are about 240,000 wind turbines generating economically sound electricity world-wide today. But some anti-wind lobbyists claim that wind turbines consume 50% or more of the electricity that...
With this and a small handful of other pictures of wind turbines on fire, anti-wind lobbyists and campaigners are raising yet another set of unfounded fears in those living in areas where wind farms...
The study Effects of industrial wind turbine noise on sleep and health by Nissenbaum, Hanning and Aramini is being referenced in articles world-wide and is being held up as peer-reviewed evidence...
It seems as if every week, a new wind generator innovation is unveiled, sometimes in technology blogs, sometimes in TV segments, once even on TED Talks. They all claim to be better than the iconic,...
Wind has overtaken nuclear as an electricity source in China. In 2012, wind farms generated 2 percent more electricity than nuclear power plants did, a gap that will likely widen dramatically over...
Secretive funding network channelled millions to stop state governments moving towards renewable energy
The Environment Protection Authority issued a report 31 January 2013 on the Infrasound levels near windfarms and in other environments. The report is another nail in the coffin of anti-wind...[more]
Since the beginning of November, wind power has been the largest source of electricity within Spain – ahead of even nuclear and coal power – according to the Spanish wind power association's blog....
On Wednesday, the official figures for new wind turbine installations in Germany were published, and the sector grew by around 20 percent. German wind energy association BWE emphasizes how reliable...
Danish release statistics on the growth of renewables and the continuing decline in Carbon emissions. . .[more]
It is clear from the results that the infrasound levels measured at the two residential locations near wind farms (Location 8 near the Bluff Wind Farm and Location 9 near Clements Gap Wind Farm) are...
Cancelled rally may be latest example of US big business funding grassroots opposition groups in the UK . . .
Four major and statistically reliable studies by different respected and independent organizations in different countries spread over a decade have found no correlation between operating wind...
Across Canada anti-WiFi activists are spreading misinformation about wireless networking (WiFi) and related technologies. Many activists blame WiFi networks’ low level radio signals for a broad...
A climate scientist who says he has been subjected to a vitriolic hate campaign has denounced the way that American billionaires have been able to secretly finance the climate-sceptic organisations...
Our firm needs 100 volunteers to attend and participate in a rally in front of the British Consulate/Embassy in Midtown Manhattan on the East Side on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 12 noon. The event...
Audit trail reveals that donors linked to fossil fuel industry are backing global warming sceptics . . .
Behind the climate 'countermovement' are two billionaire brothers . . .
The poll, conducted by ACORE in the days immediately following the US election, found that energy was an important part of an voter’s decision, on a par with foreign policy, and ahead of abortion....
More on the changes brought by the closure of our local grocery story. . .[more]
This has left wind energy open to attack by those, for whatever reason, who don’t think wind turbines have a place in our electricity mix. Associated with those attacks is much misunderstanding about...
For the first time ever, power production from PV and CSP were separately reported in December for California. French energy expert Bernard Chabot took a look at the figures, especially to determine...
Opens Up New Possibility for Community Ownership Danish researchers have uncovered surprising results in a study of offshore wind energy. Contrary to expectations, research at the University of...[more]
As French energy expert Bernard Chabot explains, December was a strong month for wind power in Germany, and in the last week of the month, when power demand was low because of the holidays and...
Nearly Half of the Regions GDP is from Tourism Yet Nearly Two-Thirds of Schleswig-Holstein's Wind Capacity is also in the Region December 26, 2012 By Paul Gipe Attendees at the 2012 Husum wind...[more]
Comments on the closing of our local grocery store. . .[more]
The model community of Friedrich-Wilhelm-Lübke-Koog is located within the kreis or county of Nordfriesland in the North German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Nordfriesland has 166,000 inhabitants...[more]
Henning Holst is one of Germany's pioneering community wind developers. Located in the center of the wind energy universe in Husum (the gray city by the sea) in northwestern Germany, he was there at...[more]
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) issued a long-delayed report this past summer on Geothermal FIT Design. . .[more]
When we think of geothermal energy we immediately have visions of Old Faithful Geyser or the modernistic geothermal power plants of Iceland. But our view doesn't have to be so limited. . . [more]
At the World Wind Energy Association conference in Bonn this past July there was a session on operations and maintenance and service providers. Carlo Reeker summarized the findings of annual survey...[more]
As part of the giant Husum wind conference held every two years, organizers this past fall launched an interactive map of wind projects in the region surrounding the "grey city by the sea". . . [more]
While traveling in Denmark this year I picked up a local newspaper (Dagbladet 13 September 2012, p 32) that had an article on the huge Anholt offshore project in the northern Kattegat--the straits...[more]
Over the past decade, Germany has successfully boosted renewable energy resources which today power 25% of all electricity demand. . . “The Energiewende is a bottom up switch that is driven by...
We were returning to San Francisco from the World Wind Energy Association conference in Bonn this past July. As we boarded the plane we met Hans-Josef Fell. Fell was the reason we had to get back to...[more]
Since 2000, Germany has converted 25 percent of its power grid to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The architects of the clean energy movement Energiewende, which translates...
According to preliminary figures not yet published by the BDEW, an association representing power and water providers, Germany exported 12.3 terawatt-hours of electricity in the first 9 months of...
The documentary, though, was commendably sober. It became stiflingly uncomfortable as the girls’ parents looked fruitlessly for someone or something external to blame. They were repelled by the...
More than two-thirds of people would rather have a wind turbine than a shale gas well near their home, according to a new opinion poll published on Tuesday. . .
The deceptively-named Global Warming Policy Foundation (often mentioned on ET, try here and here) think-tanks on climate change (obfuscation), renewable energy (opposition), and conventional energy...
An article today in German weekly Die Zeit reveals how completely overblown the likelihood is of power outages resulting from the country's Energiewende. . .
During September Spanish tubines generated so much wind power that coal use in Spain crashed, reducing emissions from fossil fuels. . .
The fact that money seems to be a magic antidote to these ailments further undermines the claims. Health complaints are as rare as rocking horse excrement among turbine hosts. Complaints are rare...
The Japanese government believes that the country has more than 20 gigawatts of energy potential in terms of geothermal energy. The country already boasts of 17 geothermal power plants, which...
The news is especially important because nuclear power, which provides slightly more than 75% of France's power supply, is often held to be an especially inexpensive source of baseload power....
One reason why Germans believe they can switch to renewables so fast is that one of their neighbors, Denmark, proves that it can be done. At the end of September, the Danish Energy Agency announced...
Conclusive figures show that the sceptics who lobby against wind power simply have their facts wrong. . .
A typically well done official Danish review of how many wind turbines exist in Denmark, how well they work, how they are integrated into the landscape and the grid, and how the community benefits.
The following text accompanies the brief presentation by Paul Gipe at 2012 Husum WindEnergy exhibition and conference in Husum, Germany. [more]
Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative's Lone Wind Turbine in Urban Toronto Started a Debate on the Future of Electricity in Ontario. . .
This is the history of wind turbine design breakthroughs. Paul Gipe, a prolific and respected writer on wind power, has seen a million of them. I asked him his view of the Catching Wind Power...
French energy expert Bernard Chabot takes a look at German power production over the past 12 months and finds that an increase in onshore wind would make the supply of renewable power more reliable....
Last spring, when the German government resolved to shut down eight of the country's 17 nuclear plants within a week, there was concern about whether the country's grid would remain reliable. Not...
It shows unequivocally that wind power can significantly reduce carbon emissions, is reliable, poses no threat to energy security, and is technically capable of providing a significant proportion of...
Report from thinktank IPPR says wind power is an efficient and reliable energy source, contrary to claims made against it. . .
Wind turbines are often criticised for killing birds. Fights against siting wind turbines in bird migration corridors or in bird habitat are frequent. Highly inflammatory language is used by...
Wind turbines are often criticised for killing birds. Fights against siting wind turbines in bird migration corridors or in bird habitat are frequent. Highly inflammatory language is used by...
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is describing Health Canada’s study of health impacts from wind turbines as “superfluous (and) a waste of time and a waste of public...
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) is describing Health Canada’s study of health impacts from wind turbines as “superfluous (and) a waste of time and a waste of public...
In countries with a large penetration rate of zero fuel cost renewables (wind power in Denmark and Spain, wind and PV in Germany), the “merit-order effect” (avoiding the most costly means of power...
July 20, 2012: Note that the article below is out of date. See the most current database for the number of fatal accidents in the wind industry. Below is a summary table from the spreadsheet....[more]
At the beginning of this year I started collecting examples of health problems some people were attributing to wind turbine exposure. I had noticed a growing number of such claims on the internet and...
The medical officer of health for Chatham-Kent says claims that turbines affect human health are nothing more than hot air. . .
Presentation on the costs of offshore wind energy relative to that onshore at the WWEC 3-5 July 2012 in Bonn. . .
Presentation at the WWEC 3-5 July 2012 Bonn. . .
The daft claim that wind subsidies have driven 50,000 people into fuel poverty exemplifies the dishonesty of most objections . . .
How many ways can you misinform, distort and spin in a single radio interview? On 9 May, 2011, Max Rheese, executive director of the organisation with the grossly misleading name Australian...
Denmark and Germany provide evidence of a different kind: despite the presence of 30,000 wind turbines in these two countries, adverse health effects are not a significant issue in either country. . .
Denmark and Germany provide evidence of a different kind: despite the presence of 30,000 wind turbines in these two countries, adverse health effects are not a significant issue in either country. ....
John Jackson, a local cattle rancher, owns 480 acres in the area and has wind turbines on his property. He's seen the wind farm change over the years and is a fan of the new turbines. . . "I like...
A confidential strategy memo seen by the Guardian advises using "subversion" to build a national movement of wind farm protesters. The strategy proposal was prepared by a fellow of the American...
Summary: the infrasound produced by wind turbines is too quiet to be heard, felt or to cause harm. . .
Finally, decades after being abandoned on South Point of Hawaii's Big Island the 37 Mitsubishi turbines have been removed. Long a source of embarassment in the wind industry and a source for right...
Summary: Dr. Pierpont's book, Wind Turbine Syndrome, is a deeply flawed and vastly over-inflated work that is causing much more harm than any good it might be attempting to achieve. . .
One of the persistent comments about wind vs. solar is that solar has a better fit with time of use both time of year and time of day. Most everyone seems to repeat the same phrase that PV has a...[more]
No There are Not 14,000 Abandoned Wind Turbines in California Never Have Been And, No There are not 14,000 Abandoned Wind Turbines in the USA, North America, or Anywhere for that Matter[more]
The following is a response to an article in London's Daily Mail on what they claim are 14,000 "abandoned wind turbines". As a long-time critic of abandoned wind turbines in California, I was...[more]
Examples of Wind Turbines in Boston and Boston Harbor and the Possibilities in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Yes, anti-wind hysteria has made me sick. I got queasy in my stomach when I think of the 150,000 wind turbines operating worldwide and still no epidemic of death and disease had yet broken out...[more]
Da die von Windkraftanlagen erzeugten Infraschallpegel in der Umgebung deutlich unterhalb der Hör- und Wahrnehmungsgrenzen liegen, können nach heutigem Stand der Wissenschaft Windkraftanlagen beim...
says Paul Gipe an exclusive interview with Renewable Energy Magazine . . .
A forum for sharing information about Wind Energy and its ramifications, environmental, social and economic, for the Western New York region.
(Warning: Satire) Car Concerns Ontario (CCO) today called for a moratorium on sale of new cars, citing their danger to the health of citizens. . .
THERE is much stronger public support for wind farms than media coverage of the issue would suggest, because a ''vocal minority'' who oppose wind farms secure the majority of media and political...
A prominent anti-wind-power group is under fire amid accusations it broke election financing by running a negative advertising campaign against Liberal candidates last fall.
The study of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) technology at Sandia National Laboratories started in the 1970’s and concluded in the 1990’s. Initial studies at SNL investigated numerous VAWT...
A voice of reason in the British Isles not connected to any trade association.
At very high penetrations, combining wind and solar power improved renewable portfolio performance over individual build-out scenarios by reducing curtailment, suggesting that further reductions may...
A November 5, 2011 article in the New York Times emphasizes the “danger” of excess wind generation in Bonneville Power Authority’s service territory. A perfect storm last year poured heavy rain in...[more]
France Energie Eolienne (en Français) . . .
San Luis Obispo, California
Wind Turbine Syndrome (“WTS”) is an alleged condition proposed by pediatrician Dr Nina Pierpoint. . .
In peer reviewed studies, wind turbine annoyance has been statistically associated with wind turbine noise, but found to be more strongly related to visual impact, attitude to wind turbines and...
What We Can Learn from Germany's Success in Harnessing Clean Energy[more]
Wind turbines can be built in Ontario, despite opponents’ claims of adverse health effects. . .
Geothermal Power Plants is the book I'd been looking for--an engineering treatise on geothermal. I'd written about geothermal in the mid 1980s, but I hadn't kept up with the industry and needed a...[more]
While this page was created to primarily aid community college instructors in contacting each other, there are several listings from the university community and private companies that offer courses...[more]
San Francisco, California
Because of the rapidly growing demand for windsmiths (wind energy technicians) in North America, several community colleges have begun offering associate degree programs. Several of these...[more]
RWE, one of Germany's biggest utilities, has announced it will not build any more new coal plants. RWE currently gets 2/3 of its generation from coal. RWE by 2025 will get only 1/4 of its...[more]
You hear all kinds of propaganda about people not liking the site of wind turbines. Sure, some people don’t, but a lot of people love seeing these beautiful, massive, clean energy pinwheels. This is...
The 32-story turbines of the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm have so dramatically changed Atlantic City's skyline - perhaps more than any casino could - that tourists haven't stopped asking questions about...
This report aims to correct the main myths of these anti-wind activists, using credible scientific, mainstream sources to correct the record and to give communities the information they need to make...
Windflow Technology Newsletter Nº 31, June 2011 Some people use capacity factor as the basis for comparing wind farms and turbines. Capacity factor is the average kilowatts produced over a period,...[more]
The review concludes that while some people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available to date does not...
Below the fold is a (hopefully) complete list of ET diaries and stories related to wind power. . .
Ontario’s family physicians and nurses are launching an advertising campaign to defend wind and solar power. . .
Another insightful article by a financier who raises debt for large offshore wind projects. . . "There are no "neutral" policy choices, and energy will always be political - and it's time what the...
The final outcome and cost of the nuclear accident at Fukushima are yet to be determined but the obituary of the nuclear industry has already been written, and one competing source of power has...
The media frenzy over unhappy wind-turbine neighbours is downright irresponsible mainly because multiple studies show that wind turbine critics fall squarely in the minority. . .
"The analysis showed that wind generation lowers wholesale prices by over €70 million, which almost exactly offsets the costs of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy and other costs associated...
Of Germany's 27,000 megawatts of wind power projects (3rd most in the world and most per capita), nearly 90% are smaller than 20 megawatts, with most between 1 and 5 megawatts.
So the conclusion can be that wind costs roughly the same as traditional power sources - with none of their drawbacks, whether troublesome exporters to deal with, dangerous mining practices for local...
Low Frequency Noise and Infrasound Associated with Wind Turbine Generator Systems A Literature Review. . .
The Conference Board of Canada reports on how Ontario's Feed-in Tariff could power job creation in the Canadian province. . . "Development and operations of offshore wind in Ontario would create...
A low carbon portfolio is produced for this system that is capable of achieving an 80% reduction in electric power sector carbon emissions from 2005 levels and supplying over 99% of the annual...
San Francisco, California
Washington, DC
Bill Koch has a nearly five-year history of opposing one of largest renewable energy initiatives in America. Cape Wind, a project to develop the country’s first offshore wind farm, has received...
Feed Laws Lead Feed Laws produced ~1/2 of world wind capacity ¾ California wind capacity from Feed Law World Wind 2009 ~150,000 MW Total ~40,000 MW added in 2009 ~300 TWh/yr 20-40% Growth/yr...[more]
The decision effectively dismisses claims of potential impact and the credibility of witnesses for the plaintiffs.
The scientific evidence does not demonstrate any direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects according to a new report from Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's Chief Medical...
Windgesichter: Aufbruch der Windenergie in Deutschland (The face of wind: Dawn of wind energy in Germany) by Jan Oelker is a joy to behold. It's one of those rare cases where you can indeed tell a...[more]
L'énergie du vent : Les éoliennes au service des hommes et de leur planète Is a beautiful coffee-table book with page after page of photos sandwiched between essays on how wind turbines work and how...[more]
L'éolien au cœur de l'incontournable révolution énergétique is a serious work on wind energy for francophone readers. It is my kind of book, chocked full of drawings, charts, tables, and historical...[more]
Wind Power The Danish Way: From Poul la Cour to Modern Wind Turbines is a book written by a who's who of Danish wind power. It's a celebratory book and Danes have a lot to celebrate--a lot to be...[more]
The Nature of Wind Power is another celebratory book on Danish wind power leading up to the climate change conference in Copenhagen in 2009. The Nature of Wind Power is by a leading Danish landscape...[more]
A controversial report critical of the wind energy industry from conservative think tank CEPOS was commissioned and paid for by an American think tank with close ties to the coal and oil industries,...
Sierra Club Kern-Kaweah Chapter P.O. Box 3357 Bakersfield, CA 93385 http://kernkaweah.sierraclub.org/ For more information contact: Tony Swan, 661 363 5106 25th Annual Walk May 8th,...[more]
In a normal wind year, Danish wind turbines generate the equivalent of approx. 20 percent of the Danish electricity demand. . .
by a Who's Who of Danish Windpower experts--an authoritative rebuttal to the wild claims of CEPOS, a so-called Danish think tank. . .
Portugal's national grid operator, REN, announced at a workshop in late November that wind generation delivered 71% of the nation's electricity on November 15, 2009. REN estimates that wind will...[more]
Specifically, neither the view of the wind facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities is found to have any consistent, measurable, and statistically significant effect on home sales...
Several misunderstandings and myths have arisen due to the characteristics of wind generation, particularly because wind-energy generation only occurs when the wind is blowing. . .
The review concluded that there is no evidence of noise-induced health effects at levels emitted by wind turbines . . .
Danish Renewable Energy Policy by Preben Maegaard recounts the historic development of Danish policy from the perspective of one its participants. Maegaard, director of the Nordic Folkecenter for...[more]
Long-time renewable energy advocate Paul Gipe was selected by the Canadian Wind Energy Association for its Individual Leadership Award at its 2009 conference in Toronto September 22. The Canadian...[more]
Contains a very good summary of wind penetration in Europe.
Rebuttal of the Centre for Policy Studies' (CEPOS) so-called report on wind energy in Denmark.
A podcast interview with Paul Gipe
This article explores the threats that wind farms pose to birds and bats before briefly surveying the recent literature on avian mortality and summarizing some of the problems with it. . .
Recent conservative studies on clean energy jobs miss the mark by Craig Morris in Grist . . .
The World Wind Energy Association's "Wind Energy International 2009/2010" landed on my desk with a reassuring thump. I picked it up simply to move it somewhere else until I could get time to thumb...[more]
Shame on Pierpont for using such deceit to prop up her case. Shame on the Independent for not even bothering to read the Pierpont website carefully enough to detect this poorly concealed...
This study provides no conclusive evidence that wind turbines have an effect on health or are causing the set of symptoms described here as "wind turbine syndrome". The study design was weak, the...
The time for that choice is now. Do we allow our health to suffer by continuing to rely on coal? Do we gamble on nuclear? Or do we choose a less harmful path toward renewable energy? How do we...
This is a quick survey of some of the sources for wind turbine performance statistics, that is, how many turbines, how many MW, and how much electricity they produce. There are no doubt more...[more]
Yes, windmills and dams deface the landscape but the climate crisis demands immediate action. . .
So, which concerns are real and which aren't? Let's investigate whether utility-scale wind energy is as green and economical as the industry and politicians paint it. . .
The known and well-documented health effects from coal use and the threat that climate change poses to humans and other species must be weighed against the unproven links between wind turbines and...
An excellent primer on the value and integration of wind into utility systems.
Opposition to wind power used to be the province of NIMBY’s who quailed at the supposed intrusion into their viewsheds and soundsheds. No more. Wind power is big — its share of U.S. electricity...
Another insightful analysis by Craig Morris of the American Spectator's "critique" of renewable energy . . .
[W]hen wind turbines are operated as parts of an interconnected grid for which the dominant share of energy is provided by generators burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), wind power...
Dr. David Colby doesn't doubt that some people are bothered by the noise generated by a wind turbine, but the acting medical officer of health for Chatham-Kent says there's no direct link between...
The Danes have an expression, as do most European cultures, to wish one good fortune on parting. The expression comes from the days of sail: God Vind or Good Wind! The wind is good in Denmark, and...[more]
Lansing, Michigan
James Lovelock says the government’s enthusiasm for wind farms approaches fascism.--By George Monbiot in the Guardian . . .
In summary, wind power prices are comparable to those of fossil fuel ppower plants, but (i) that price is guaranteed not to change over the next 20 years, (ii) when wind is blowing, it brings down...
On Noise from Wind Turbines and Wild Claims
Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, & Business (2004) Corrections If you find further errors or want to suggest changes or corrections, post a message to Paul Gipe. Your help is...[more]
Praise for Wind Power: Renewable Energy for Home, Farm, & Business (2004) by Paul Gipe Advance Praise "If you only buy one book on wind energy, make it this one. . . Paul Gipe has made a great...[more]
There are a several sources of information for landowners on the typical terms and conditions for leasing land for wind energy development. The newest is by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association...[more]
Arne Kildegaard on the Merit Order Effect
As the title suggests, this version of Chelsea Green's original 1999 version expands the scope to include commercial-scale wind turbines used in distributed applications. As such, this book includes...[more]
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Presentation on Integrating Renewable Electricity into the Grid by a French authority on renewable energy. Chabot's conclusion: Think Big! We already have the technology we need to go to 100% RE.
Despite rumors to the contrary in the Anglophone world, French wind energy development is continuing. In fact growth is accelerating according to data published by France Énergie Éolienne, the French...[more]
October 30, 2008 Despite rumors to the contrary in the Anglophone world, French wind energy development is continuing. In fact growth is accelerating according to data published by France Énergie...[more]
(ASPO US Sacramento)
Lansing, Michigan
I thought I'd comment on the technical feasibility of the plan, and the underlying economics of such an endeavour. . .
The World Wind Energy Association presented its 2008 World Wind Energy Award to Paul Gipe at its 7th annual conference. The trade association also elected Gipe to its board of directors. Gipe shared...[more]
opposition to wind farms on the basis of potential adverse health consequences is not justified by the evidence. . .
Washington, DC
On Aprill 11 and 12, 2008 teams from highschools, colleges, and universities from across the continent were scrambling in the garages at the Fontana raceway preparing their cars for the Shell's...[more]
Debunked by the Canadian Wind Energy Association
How to say yes to wind energy. . .
Portail de l'énergie en Région wallonne
The following op-ed was originally posted on July 4, 2005 and then appeared at Renewable Energy Access.com on July 11, 2005. This version has been updated with current figures for the cost of...[more]
1% to 38% of supply[more]
Grid integration of renewable energy, especially wind energy, is a controversial topic-and has been for nearly three decades. Frankly, I think the subject has been beaten to death and for my part the...[more]
Audubon strongly supports properly-sited wind power as a clean alternative energy source that reduces the threat of global warming. . .
Moncton, New Brunswick
