Deaths like these have brought concern to many environmentalists as well as the government. It is against federal law to kill any member of an endangered species, and wind farmers now face potential repercussions when the new guidelines are put in place. Recently, it’s been reported that Pattern Energy Group has abandoned plans to construct a new wind farm in Sacramento because of concerns about the bald eagle population.

These wildlife concerns are as fresh as a newly painted garage door as ecologist David Cottingham explains, “We haven’t really had too many wind turbines heretofore in the country, so we are learning about it as we go.” The number of wind farms has greatly grown in recent years. The precise number of bat deaths by wind turbines is not known, but some scientists have estimated that the numbers are in the thousands.

According to Ed Arnett, director of science and policy at Bat Conservation International, “Most biologists will tell you that over time and cumulatively, [bats] won’t be able to sustain these fatality rates.”  Arnett adds that continued research could help minimize wildlife deaths and that wind power doesn’t necessarily have to be severely compromised. Arnett even stipulates that as little as 1 percent of wind power could be lost if farmers focus on shutting down during “danger periods.”

How do you feel about the clash between wildlife and wind energy? Do you think the focus should shift to a less hazardous form of energy? Let us know in the comments!

Kelly Rigg, from the global climate change alliance (GCCA), writes on the Huffington Post:

“Colleagues and I have been directly corresponding with Yoshinori Ueda leader of the International Committee of the Japan Wind Power Association & Japan Wind Energy Association, and according to Ueda there has been no wind facility damage reported by any association members, from either the earthquake or the tsunami.”

She reports that the Kamisu wind farm, which is located 300km from the epicenter of the earthquake, managed to survive without any damages. Mostly thanks to its “anti-earthquake battle proof design”. According to Yoshinori Ueda most of the wind farms in Japan are now operational. The remaining ones are offline due to grid failures caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

So while the awful nuclear crisis continues, with experts warning that the Fukushima disaster could become worse than Chernobyl and that the deconstruction of the plant could take decades, this story really should give a boost of confidence to the renewable energy sector. And it seems that the stock markets agree on this. The stock price of Japan Wind Development Co. Ltd. has risen from 31,500 yen on 11 March to 74,700 yen today. And the Guardian reports that the Japanese nuclear crisis has made shares in renewable energy sources rocket as public and investors recoil from the nuclear energy industry.

Fukushima really does makes the case for renewable energy, as Antony Froggatt writes on BBC.

Another article worth reading is this one by Leuren Moret on “Japan’s deadly game of nuclear roulette“. It was published seven years ago and warned about the potential consequences of investing heavily in nuclear energy near such a dangerous earthquake zone as Japan:

“Of all the places in all the world where no one in their right mind would build scores of nuclear power plants, Japan would be pretty near the top of the list.”

It’s like Naomi Klein says. Our societies have become addicted to extreme and reckless risk-taking.

Photo credit: jesse.millan

Sweden might be the host for Europe’s largest wind farm if the Swedish government approves the proposed plans. The wind farm will be located in Markbygden near Piteå in northern Sweden and will have a total of 1,101 wind turbines.

“This would be Europe’s, if not the world’s, biggest wind farm,” Caj Noren, a spokesman for the board, told AFP. Construction could begin in two-and-a-half years and would be completed after about a decade, Noren said.

Once constructed the wind farm will produce between 8 to 12 terawatt hours per year and would alone meet Sweden’s national wind power target to reach 10 terawatt hours by 2015. The wind farm is expected to cost about 55 billion Swedish Kronor (around $6.9 billion or €4.5 billion) to construct.

The Swedish right-wing government recently announced that they will reverse a nearly 30-year-old ban on building nuclear power plants. Its madness when we can get cheap, clean renewable energy and at the same time create thousands of new jobs from wind farms like this one.

Photo credit: phault

Sölvesborg, a small village near the coast located in southern Sweden, was first in the world with sea-based wind power. And now it might become the place for Sweden’s and northern Europe’s largest offshore wind farm.

The renewable energy companies Vingkraft AB and Eolus Vind AB wants to construct 500 wind turbines in the sea outside of Sölvesborg by 2014-2019. Once completed the wind farm will supply 5-7 TWh of electricity every year. That is equal to the amount of electricity the now decommissioned Swedish nuclear plant Barsebäck generated every year.

Although the proposed wind farm have a long way to go and many different instances to pass, such as the military, before getting approved the local politicians and people in the region are excited. The politicians believe the wind farm will create thousands of new jobs in the region and even act as a way to attract more tourists.

The wind farm is expected to cost 50 billion Swedish kronor, equal to around €4.5 billion.

Photo credit: World Development Movement

Top US climate scientist Dr James Hansen shares his thoughts about Coal River Mountain and Barack Obama’s coal policy in general in a letter titled: “Tell President Obama About Coal River Mountain“.

“Coal River Mountain is the site of an absurdity.

[...]The issue at Coal River Mountain is whether the top of the mountain will be blown up, so that coal can be dredged out of it, or whether the mountain will be allowed to stand. It has been shown that more energy can be obtained from a proposed wind farm, if Coal River Mountain continues to stand. More jobs would be created. More tax revenue would flow, locally and to the state, and the revenue flow would continue indefinitely. Clean water and the environment would be preserved. But if planned mountaintop removal proceeds, the mountain loses its potential to be a useful wind source.”

You can read and download the report that Hansen is talking about over at Coal River Mountain Watch.

Five French wind farm projects, totalling 77MW capacity came online in February 2008. Project France phase-2 was a €115 million project constructing a total of 42 turbines. This challenge was undertaken as a joint venture by EOLE-RES S.A, a French wind park developer, and Renewable Energy Systems of the UK.

Mott MacDonald Ltd, a well renowned Global engineering consultancy, was appointed as Lenders and Owners Engineer for the project, which spanned three regions of France. In charge of due diligence as well as Owners’ engineer work for the project, Mott MacDonald was also present throughout the construction phase. Ron Donnelly of Mott MacDonald explained the increase in wind farm developments recently was “due to high oil prices there is more motivation for people to try to meet the low carbon agenda…investments in wind farms are becoming much more popular.”

The project consisted of five sites. In Houndelaincourt and Bonnet Sud, both situated in Lorraine, a total of 18 Vestas 2MW turbines were erected by October 2007. In the same month, 9 more turbines were complete, this time in Murat, Midi-Pyrénées, where Siemens 1.3MW were used instead of the Vestas turbines.

The final sites were situated in Montbéliard and Lomont, part of Franche-Comté, which saw another 15 Vestas 2MW erected. These farms were the last stages of the project and the final take over certificate was issued by 14 February 2008, allowing the turbines to come online. Nigel Deane, from Mott MacDonald, carried out construction inspections for the project. He said: “As the Owners’ engineer for these wind farms it was a challenging job, involving a large amount of site work. However, to be involved in such a highly technical project was thoroughly enjoyable and a valuable experience.”

The wind farm will be built in the Kattegatt strait about 30 kilometres off Sweden’s southwestern coast and cover an area of about 60 square kilometres. Once completed the wind farm will be one of the largest in Europe.

The wind farm will consist of a maximum of 108 wind turbines with a height of 200 metres and a capacity of 860 megawatts (MW). The wind farm is expected to produce three terawatt hours (TWH) a year and will double the Swedish wind power output.

But there is still a long way to go until completion.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will first carry out an extensive study to determine whether marine life in the area would be affected by the project. They will also work with Universal Wind Offshore to decide where each of the 108 wind turbines will be placed. A government proposal will also need to be accepted by the parliament early next year before the projects gets a “real” go-ahead.

Image credit: Phault. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution license.