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Wind Power News Tuesday September 12th 2006
Harnessing The Wind For Fun And Profit
Alternative energy in the Pacific Northwest can mean biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear, hydro-electric, pedal power or a sticker on the back of your Volvo complaining about the war, but rarely do we hear much about wind farms. You’ve seen the photographs of wind farms and they always look really cool in a kind of sterile future-topia way and you get how they work: Wind turns windmill, windmill turns turbine = electricity that doesn’t require unsavory political relationships or ass raping the earth. It’s not completely free of drawbacks, of course, and Wikipedia’s got the whole yay vs nay thing covered (it’s clean, it kills birds and trees), but we’re thinking we should get to the Seattle hearing on the Kittitas Valley Wind Power Project tonight to figure out exactly what’s going on.
Washington View: Birds, bats, taxpayers pay for wind power
It is well known that wind turbines can be devastating to birds and bats. The infamous Altamont wind farm in California is a prime example. Each of Altamont's 5,000 wind turbines produces enough electricity to serve 20 homes. But the facility, which admittedly has older, more lethal wind turbines, kills more birds of prey than any other wind farm in the world as golden eagles, hawks, and other raptors fly into the spinning turbine blades. Wind energy companies have attempted to reduce the bird kills by redesigning turbines and blades. They have worked hard at Altamont as well, but a recent five-year study by the California Energy Commission estimates that every year up to 1,300 raptors are killed, including more than a hundred golden eagles.
Spearville wind farm fully operational
The state's much-anticipated third wind farm is fully operational. Officials from Kansas City Power & Light on Tuesday announced that all 67 towers of the 100.5-megawatt Spearville Wind Energy Facility in southwest Kansas were turning. The facility will produce enough energy to supply about 33,000 homes. Much of it will be routed to the Kansas City area. "Putting these wind turbines on the power grid is an important milestone in our comprehensive plan to meet the growing energy needs of the Kansas City area," Kansas City Power & Light chief executive Bill Downey said in a news release.
Wind industry sniffs new direction
The Australian wind energy lobby group believes there are progressive attitudes towards the renewable energy on the Australian scene. Australian Wind Energy Association (Auswind) spokeswoman Dominique La Fontaine on Tuesday welcomed encouraging signs from the federal government and the South Australian and Victorian governments on the issue. Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell on Monday promised a national code covering wind farms would be developed, following a meeting involving the federal government, the wind energy industry and community groups.
Countries Debate Emissions Standards at Helsinki Summit
The sixth annual Asia-Europe Meeting Summit wrapped up Monday in Helsinki, Finland, making considerable headway in emissions standards and regulations. The summit, held between the 25 member states of the European Union (EU) and 13 Asian countries, pledged to set new emission targets that extend past the Kyoto Protocol target of 2012. "Climate change is one such area of common concern where joint efforts are needed," the president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso stated in a press release before the summit.
Wind Energy: An Overview
Currently the world's fastest growing renewable power source, wind energy is the transformation of the wind's kinetic force into mechanical power through a turbine. The mechanical power can be used for such tasks as grinding grain or pumping water, or converted into electricity through a generator for use by homes and businesses. "Though only about five countries in the world produce nearly three quarters of all the wind power, with the growth rate that we are seeing, wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the world," according to Joseph Florence of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington.
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