Wind Energy and renewable energy blog

Introducing the European Renewable Energy Roadmap

A new renewable energy roadmap template was introduced today by the European Commission.

The template for National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPS) is expected to guide European Commission member countries in drawing up their renewable energy strategies.

Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said “With the binding targets for the share of renewable energy in 2020 the EU has taken a major step towards creating certainty for investors”

Wind Farm Neighbours

Canadian wind farm neighbour Mulikow tries to describe the noise from his next door wind farm in the video below. As with all attempts to replicate ‘noise experiences’ this video struggles to represent accurately wind turbine noise due to the noise of the natural wind in the microphone and the fact that we – the listeners are located out of context. However Mulikaw gives what seems to be an un-emotive, and descriptive account of what it is like to live next to an operational wind farm. Don’t believe him though – go visit one for yourself.

David Cameron’s Renewable Energy Challenge

How green really are the blues?

Conservative party leader David Cameron portrays a green image by biking to work and installing a wind turbine on his roof – however is the Conservative party up for tackling the effects of climate change and what are their plans for taking us into a greener future?

In January the Conservatives announced their vision of a low carbon economy. David Cameron unveiled the party’s green paper which he said would help guarantee energy security and protect our environment for future generations.

Cameron said that Conservative change would be “similar in scale to the advent of the internet and the revolution in computing power that took place in the 1980’s and 1990’s“. An energy revolution could – according to Cameron create hundreds of thousands of new green collar jobs in the UK by 2020.

New Climate Change “Five Point Plan” For UK

The UK government is to take new action in response to climate change, according to an announcement yesterday.

According to Hilary Benn MP, Ministers will this summer set out the building blocks of a ‘five point plan’ designed both to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at home and abroad and “to protect and prepare for the changes that are already inevitable“.

Climate change is already happening in the UK. The ten hottest years on record globally have occurred since 1990. The South and South East of England are short of water and we have seen increased incidents of flooding.

Benn says the Government has more than doubled spending on flood protection since 1997, developed a heatwave plan in the NHS and is helping communities affected by coastal erosion. These measures are in addition to the push for renewable energy and come at the same time as the UN announced “Seal the Deal Campaign” – a campaign to gather the political momentum needed to seal the Kyoto agreement successor in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Find out more about climate change projections for the UK from Benn’s You Tube video below.

What’s Hot and What’s Not – The Global Energy Scene

An article by Michael von Bülow yesterday reviews the Riso Energy Report 7 – Future low carbon energy systems and tells us which energy technologies are hot and which are not in the current global market.

The report outlines the current technological status and growth of our favourite energy technologies, together with the key challenges and barriers for further development.

Wind energy is top of the list – described as a mature option in sustainable energy with great potential and a rapid development over the past 25 years.

What Impact Are Your New Shoes Having on the Amazon?

This new Greenpeace video poses the question – what impact is the global demand for leather having on our Environment? Cattle ranches are according to Greenpeace the leading cause of Amazon deforestation.

Renewable Energy Projects Could be Pre- Judged under New Conservative Policy

Under proposals by the Conservative party, renewable energy projects could be judged as acceptable or unacceptable before local politicians have the project information before them.
According to Bob Neill – Shadow Planning Minister, the Conservatives would allow local politicians who have voiced premature opinions on planning applications the right to vote on the same [...]

Huge Area of Sea Needed for Offshore Wind Turbines

In order to meet the renewable energy aspirations of the UK government, offshore wind power developers need to find 10,000 km2 of sea area.

A strategic environmental assessment carried out by The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) calculated that up to 10,000 km2 of sea area would be needed to accommodate 25 Gigawatts (GW) of installed offshore wind energy capacity. This area of sea could be difficult to find given the number of ecological constraints – birds and marine life – and the need for shallow waters for economic reasons.

Siemens Wins Wind Energy Advertising Row

Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens has won a dispute over the description of its green energy business as “drastically” reducing CO2 emissions.

Siemens marketing campaign posed the question “How can you power a planet hungry for electricity without damaging it?“. The Siemens answer was “efficient energy supply…our innovations efficiently generate and distribute the power we need while at the same time drastically reducing CO2 emissions“. A complaint was lodged by an unknown wind energy sceptic who objected to the use of the word “drastically” when talking about wind energy projects and CO2 reduction helping in the fight against climate change.

UK Ranks Low on European Renewable Energy League Table

According to the Guardian this week, the UK is currently third from bottom in a European renewable energy league table.

Despite the UK being the windiest country in Europe, the UK generates just under 2% of its energy from renewable energy such as wind energy and solar. This is less than most countries in Europe – with the exception of Luxembourg and Malta.

Global Wind Day

Wind energy works – it tackles climate change and it improves energy dependence on fossil fuels. This is the message being shouted from wind farms all around the world on Global Wind Day.

World’s First Floating Wind Turbine

The world’s first ‘full scale’ floating wind turbine has been installed off the Norwegian coast by Statoil Hydro.

The 2.3 Megawatt turbine has 100 metres of ballast below the water to support the massive structure. It is expected to generate enough green electricity for the equivalent of 1600 UK homes.

The project costing US $16m is a test case with US $9m allocated for ‘testing’. This video explains the project and interviews a StatoilHydro representative.

Irish Offshore Wind Energy Stifled By Lack of Grid

Irish transmission system operator – Eirgrid has announced that it is looking into possible solutions to allow offshore wind energy projects to connect to the electricity grid. Wind energy projects off the coast of Ireland are currently stalled because of a lack of grid infrastructure. One solution mooted is a north to south cable running under the sea bed.

Renewable Energy Project Prices Go Down

The number of renewable energy projects for sale in the UK has risen over the last few months due to reduced demand.

Renewable energy developers keen to sell projects, are finding that demand is not at the same level it was a year ago, despite shareholders in many companies wanting to go green.

Manchester based Peel Energy is rumoured to be looking to sell half of its 65MW Scout Moor Wind Farm this year, while Durham company – Banks has announced the sale of the 24MW West Durham Wind Farm to fund the progression of its consented project portfolio.

McCain Pushes for Nuclear to be classed as Renewable Energy

According to AllGov today, John McCain is trying to brand nuclear power – a renewable source of energy.

Members of the U.S. Senate are drafting a plan which would require utilities to supply 15% of their power from renewable energy sources by 2021 – shadowing a fiscal instrument that currently exists in the UK.

The proposals have led to a discussion over what defines a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). Senator John McCain attempted to change the requirement so that nuclear power is included in this definition of renewable energy.

Re-shuffle Brings New Green Ministers

Gordon Brown’s cabinet re-shuffle at the end of last week led to John Denham being selected as the new Communities Secretary of State.

Denham replaces Hazel Blears who resigned dramatically earlier in the week amidst continuing MP expenses revelations. Blears’s allies accused the government of trying to ’smear’ her after a story appeared in one of the tabloids suggesting her decision to quit was connected to the revelation that she had avoided paying capital gains tax on a second property.

Friends of the Earth Report Condemns Carbon Offsetting

Carbon offsetting will threaten attempts to combat dangerous climate change, Friends of the Earth warned this week.

Climate change will be unavoidable if the UK, EU and USA pursue a policy to increase the use of carbon offsetting to meet their commitments according to the campaign group. In a new report ‘Dangerous Distraction’ Friends of the Earth (FOE) warns that carbon offsetting is ineffective and damaging.

Renewable Energy Investment Thrives

Wind energy, solar and clean technologies brought in $140bn (£86bn) global investment last year according to the United Nations. The figure compared with only $110 bn (£68bn) for gas and coal electricity generation.

New investments were made throughout the globe, notably in developing countries. Wind energy technology was the front runner in 08 – attracting the biggest new worldwide investment of $52bn (£32bn). Solar energy was second favourite with $33.5bn (£21bn) investment. China experienced a $15.6bn (£10m) injection – mostly in wind energy and biomass electricity generation plant.

UK Renewable Energy Festivals Launched

Scottish renewable energy facilities will open their doors to visitors over the weekend of 13th – 14th June. Celebrating the generation of green energy, the Scottish Renewables Festival will host family friendly events from Shetland to the Solway.

Wind farms, hydro power schemes, marine energy devices and wood fuel power stations are all on show – demonstrating their role in tackling climate change and giving us more energy self sufficiency. Small scale household renewable energy devices such as solar panels, woodfuel boilers, stoves and heat pumps are also included.