Much to Improve, Wind Farm Maintenance Survey Finds
Written by Luis Merino, Energy Renewables, www.energias-renovables.com | 
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"The findings of the German survey in 2011 indicate that maintenance work "seems to have been neglected in recent years during the wind power boom". It also highlights that there is very little information about the quality of the maintenance services provided because no developer is happy to reveal that their machines have experienced a breakdown or malfunction. Silence is golden. No-one says a word, but everyone would like to know how their peers are faring. Few operators, even less information."
May 14, 2012
Our mission was not an easy one. Wind farm operators do not like to judge their maintenance services providers, seeing it as somehow cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. Nevertheless, the results of a recent survey conducted by our sister publication in Spain, Energías Renovables, should help the sector improve. After all, no other study of this kind has been performed before in Spain, and the results obtained are revealing.
Massachusetts DEP Recommends Shut Down of Wind Turbine
Written by Lucas Willard, WAMC TV, www.wamc.org | | |
May 16, 2012
The study released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection shows that the Wind One industrial turbine in the Cape Cod town of Falmouth produces noise louder than the state allows. The report marks the first time the state has recommended a shut-off of a wind turbine.
Earlier this year, after an independent scientific panel’s report concluded that there is a lack of concrete evidence that proximity to wind turbines affects human health, the DEP heard comments from the public across the state. In the Berkshire town of Lee, local residents voiced their concerns. Dave Moriarty of Falmouth drove out to deliver his comments to the state again, months before the Falmouth select board ordered the temporary shut-down of the turbine after state recommendations.
At the hearing, Falmouth residents complained of headaches, sleeplessness, and vertigo – symptoms the report dismissed.
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Ohio Senate Wants Fracking Chemicals Identified But Neglects Wind Farms
Written by John Funk, The Plain Dealer, www.cleveland.com/business | | |
May 15, 2012
The public would have a better idea of what chemicals shale gas well developers are using, under legislation approved by the Ohio Senate on Tuesday and now headed to the Ohio House. But the state stands to lose $2 billion in new wind farm development because of that same bill. If approved by the House of Representatives next week as expected, the legislation would encourage public colleges and other institutions to build heating and power plants fired by natural gas and get credit for them as renewable energy, as proposed by Gov. John Kasich.
Those credits now go to help finance wind farms, and developers will probably not be able to build five farms already permitted because the new system would squeeze them out.
Comments on Watertown Times Editorial Power Line
Written by Watertown Daily Times Editorial, www.watertowndailytimes.com | | |
Crohnote: The Times Editorial commented on was previously posted on the www.croh.org website and the link is included again at the end of this comment.
By Pater Thu., May. 17 at 3:05 pm
Take a close look at this to see who is for it and who is against it. The Big Wind lobbyists are sending mixed signals on purpose because they want to confuse the issue. Confusion and misunderstanding works in their favor. But the wind lobby is not confused about its own needs and wants.
Certain politicians are also sending mixed signals in their statements because they want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to please generous lobbyists and they want to please at least some portion of their constituents. In the end, money talks.
This powerline will supply primarily (clean and zero carbon dioxide emitting) hydroelectric power from Quebec. Quebec, owing to its natural good fortune, produces more (again, clean and zero carbon dioxide emitting) hydroelectric power than it needs. It can afford to export some -- at a bargain price.
Wind Turbines and Common Sense
Written by Jean-François Nadeau, Stanstead Journal | | |
May 16, 2012
Rules of civilized neighborhood are not a question of borders but of common sense. In fact, it is precisely the principle by which the AQPER (Association québécoise de la production d’énergie renouvelable), a group heavily in support of renewed energy in Quebec, has voiced its opposition to the project targeting the installation of industrial wind turbines at the Quebec border with Vermont.
The AQPER, usually an avid promoter of wind turbines, has stated in an open letter addressed to the media last week that this American led initiative intending to install windmills at the border of Vermont and Quebec is a mistake. In order to generate and sustain new forms of energy, there must be public buy-in, projects like the Derby-Standstead venture is a perfect example of damaging the communities’ sentiment vis-à-vis this otherwise ingenious wind process. Jean-François Samray, president of the organization has also expressed his opposition to the project in alignment with the professional advice of an expert in wind mills who used to work as a major consultant for Hydro Quebec.
Proposed Madison Windmills Divide Public
Written by Caitlin Traynor, Dispatch Staff Writer, The Oneida Daily Dispatch, www.oneidadispatch.com | | |
May 16, 2012
MADISON — A group named Madison Matters has been the driving force behind stopping the area’s largest wind farm to date and has succeeded in stalling its progress as Madison town officials consider a moratorium. In a joint meeting May 2, the planning board recommended the adoption of a year-long moratorium, a suggestion the town board took action on at its meeting last Thursday with the introduction of a local law. A public hearing will need to be held, and is tentatively scheduled for June 7, to gather comments before the board votes on instating the moratorium.
If it’s passed, all pending or new applications for the installments of turbines in the Town of Madison will be stalled, giving the town time to review and amend its special permit regulations, create a land use plan and comprehensive plan.
Chinese Farmer Fights Smog With Fan Power
Written by Holly Williams, China correspondent, Sky News HD, www.sky.com | | |
May 17, 2012
A Chinese farmer worried about his country’s pollution problem has come up with a bizarre four-wheeled solution. In a small tractor workshop in the dusty village of Banjiehe, an hour outside Beijing, 55-year-old Tang Zhenping has been hard at work on a car he dreams will one day become the people's popular choice. Mr. Tang's model - built in just three months for around £1,000 - is electric, with a battery that needs to be charged from the mains. Mr. Tang says a bigger model of the prototype could be built. Its engine uses scrap parts from a motorcycle and electric scooter, while its steering wheel, upholstery and headlights all come from a Chinese-made Xiali hatchback. But what makes the one-seater special is the turbine on its nose.
Two Big Pennsylvania Wind Farm Projects Canceled
Written by Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, www.post-gazette.com | | |
May 16, 2012
Two big wind development projects on Appalachian ridges in Bedford and Clearfield counties have been canceled, and fewer new turbines will be spinning across the nation next year due to the possible end of a federal tax credit program that has driven development. Some environmentalists are applauding the potentially lengthy lull in wind development, but the industry says more than half of the 75,000 people working to make and install turbines could lose their jobs next year. And layoffs have already started.
Iberdrola Renewables confirmed Monday that it will not build the 24 wind turbines it had planned on Dunning and Evitts mountains in Bedford County and the 40 wind turbines in the Clover Run project in Clearfield County. Paul Copleman, an Iberdrola spokesman, said that without the federal Production Tax Credits, which will expire at the end of 2012, its two projects and many others in the state and nation won't get built.
