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John reported here a few days ago that Britain was scaling back wind power, and it looks like much of the rest of Europe is following. The Global Warming Policy Foundation gives a nice roundup today, starting with Denmark, which is postponing additional offshore wind for almost ten years: "It was the first country ever to venture into offshore wind power. Now, Denmark is scaring off potential investors by abandoning some of the policies that once helped make it an international poster child for green energy. The center-right government of Lars Loekke Rasmussen wants to scrap an electricity tax that...

Investigation after 328-foot turbine buckles at wind farm in County Tyrone despite only light winds A 328-foot tall wind turbine worth more than £2 million pounds has buckled and collapsed on a mountainside in Northern Ireland. Unconfirmed reports suggested the blades of the turbine had spun out of control - despite only light wind speeds - before the structure came crashing to the ground on Friday. Locals claimed the sound of the turbine hitting the mountain could be heard up to seven miles away from the Screggagh wind farm, near Fintona in County Tyrone.

In what appears to be the first of its kind ruling in the United States, the Board of Health in Brown County, Wisconsin, where Green Bay is located, has declared a local industrial wind plant to be a human health hazard. The specific facility consists of eight 500-foot high, 2.5 megawatt industrial wind turbines. The board made its finding with a 4-0 vote (three members were not present) at an Oct. 14 meeting after it had wrestled with health complaints about the wind plant for more than four years. Ultimately, the board’s ruling was based on a year-long survey which...

Nearly 120 wind turbines catch fire each year – ten times the number reported by the industry – according to new research. The figures show that fires are the second biggest cause of accidents in wind turbines, after blade failure. ... because the turbines are so far off the ground, it is almost impossible to put the fires out, leading to the whole structure potentially being destroyed. Dr Guillermo Rein of Imperial College said: “Fires are a problem for the industry, impacting on energy production, economic output and emitting toxic fumes. “This could cast a shadow over the industry’s green...

<p>ST. CLOUD, Minn. – A $2.3 million federal stimulus project at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Cloud is giving green energy initiatives a bad name. A 600-kilowatt wind turbine -- some 245 foot tall -- stands on the wintry VA grounds, frozen in time and temperature, essentially inoperable for the past 1 1/2 years.</p>

On Wednesday, July 10, the House passed H.R. 2609—which Bloomberg News called a “$30.4 Billion Energy-Water Spending Measure.” The 2014 Energy-Water Development appropriations bill will cut spending on renewables and other green energy programs in half and was passed mostly along party lines—with 4 Republicans voting against and 7 Democrats for it.

There hasn’t been a sighting of a White-throated Needletail in the United Kingdom for 22 years, so nearly 80 birdwatchers flocked to Scotland this week to get a look, the Telegraph reported. But instead of enjoying the world’s fastest flying bird soaring, they watched it fly into the small blade of a wind turbine and die.

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird… it's a plane… it's a… wind turbine? Altaeros Energies, a Massachusetts-based company formed by MIT and Harvard grads, has aimed high — literally — in its quest to deliver power to remote, off-the-grid locations, creating a blimp that harnesses the power of the wind at 1,000 feet up. The prototype, seen in this video, is a large helium-filled shell that looks almost like a jet engine (or, as we suspect more than a few people thought when it was tested in Maine earlier this year, a UFO). Attached to a trailer on...

Britain was battered by gales of up to 165mph yesterday, leaving a trail of destruction across the country. In one spectacular incident a 300ft wind turbine exploded in flames as it was buffeted by the high winds. Another wind turbine was completely blown down on Wednesday, raising questions about whether wind farms were simply unable to cope with the weather. ... Today temperatures are expected to plummet with blizzards, snowdrifts and black ice expected in the north, and continuing wind and rain in the south. The flaming £2million wind turbine was in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Witnesses said its blades...

"Renewable energy isn't something pie in the sky," Obama said during a speech at Cardinal. "It's not part of a far-off future. It's happening all across America right now. " ... It can create millions of new jobs and entire new industries if we act right now." Jeff Grabner, vice president and head of the company's wind business, told the Plain Dealer earlier in the week that Cardinal had been losing business to European suppliers who had underbid Cardinal, forcing the company to trim its workforce by 15 employees a year ago.

Lincoln Electric is giving $4.5 million to help start Wind turbine manufacturing in Cleveland. EUCLID, Ohio -- The sprawling blades on Ohio's largest wind turbine started turning 278 feet above the headquarters of Lincoln Electric this weekend in Euclid. Euclid Mayor Bill Cervenik said Sunday that he anticipates this as only the beginning of his city's place in becoming a symbol of clean alternative energy. "We have a lot more planned," Cervenik said of the massive wind turbines. "We're hoping this is the start of putting Euclid among the leaders in the nation." Toward the end of the summer,...

Jerry Graf is a concerned citizen who happens to have a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He recently read an item in his local paper about a school district that contemplated investing over a quarter million dollars in roof-top wind turbines. “There was a quote from someone in charge of school facilities that indicated they had no idea how much electricity the turbines would actually generate. As I got further into the details myself, I realized the turbines would actually produce next to nothing,” he says. Wind boosters open themselves up to skepticism about their industry’s viability when they don’t...

A research company in New Hampshire recently announced the patent of their bladeless wind turbine, which is based on a patent issued to Nikola Tesla in 1913. The Fuller Wind Turbine developed by Solar Aero has only one rotating part, the turbine-driveshaft. The entire assembly is contained inside a housing, so that this turbine offers several advantages versus blade-style (primarily horizontal-axis type) turbines. With a screened inlet and outlet, this turbine does not present a danger to wildlife such as bats and birds. To an outside observer, the only movement visible is the entire turbine housing as it adjusts to...

Homemade wind turbine1.mov

Minnesota invested itself in alternative energy sources years ago, and so the revelation that the state spent $3.3 million on eleven wind turbines hardly qualifies as news. However, the fact that they don’t work in cold weather does. KSTP reports that none of the wind turbines work, prompting the Twin Cities ABC affiliate to dub them “no-spin zones.” Special hydraulic fluid designed for colder temperatures was used in the turbines, but it’s not working, so neither are the turbines. There is a plan to heat the fluid, but officials must find a contractor to do the work. How will the...

The world's first floating wind turbine is to be towed out to sea this weekend. Statoil's Alexandra Beck Gjorv told the BBC the technology, the Hywind, to be put off Norway's coast - "should help move offshore wind farms out of sight". And it could lead to offshore wind farms eventually being located many miles offshore, away from areas where they cause disruption, Ms Gjorv added. This would benefit military radar operations, the shipping industry, fisheries, bird life and tourism. "Taking wind turbines to sea presents new opportunities," said Ms Gjorv, of Statoil's new energy division. "The wind is stronger...

A large number of goats in Taiwan may have died of exhaustion because of noise from a wind farm. A farmer on an outlying island told the BBC he had lost more than 400 animals after eight giant wind turbines were installed close to his grazing land. The Ministry of Agriculture says it suspects that noise may have caused the goats' demise through lack of sleep. The power company, Taipower, has offered to pay for part of the costs of building a new farmhouse elsewhere.

Residents were left fearing for their safety after shards of melting ice fell on homes and gardens from the blades of a giant wind turbine. For about four hours people in King’s Dyke, Whittlesey, had to take cover as huge lumps – some two feet long – showered them from the 80 metre high tower on Saturday morning. (80 metres is about 270 ft) Resident Peter Randall, whose son’s house lies a stone’s throw away from the turbine, said: “Somebody is going to get killed. There was huge lumps of ice shooting off and landing everywhere. “No one wants to...

PALMDALE - Motorists usually speed past a once-controversial, 230-foot structure near Avenue S and Sierra Highway, and pedestrians seldom cross its path. A year after what some called an eyesore was constructed, no one seems to pay attention. Or at least the heated dialogue has cooled over the towering turbine that saves almost $100,000 a year for the Palmdale Water District. Either way, the city's Planning Commission has not received any more calls from agitated residents condemning the 950-kilowatt wind turbine, which rises close to Lake Palmdale and the water treatment plant, according to Asoka Herath, assistant director of planning...