Alternative Energy / Wind Power

• Sky Falls for Wind Energy

  A study featured in the journal Nature suggests that the latest victim of the green-versus-clean debate is the wind turbine. Researchers looking at wind farms in Texas found that overnight temperatures could increase over time compared with areas that don't have wind farms. This prompted a flurry of media massaging over the global warming link to wind farms, but there were a few "ifs" in the study that might quiet the alarm bells. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that while wind energy was among the fastest growing renewable energy sectors in the world, there were some drawbacks. The…

• China Now World's Leader in Wind Power

  While Western analysts remain transfixed by China’s seemingly inexhaustible voracious appetite for the world’s hydrocarbon resources, a quiet green revolution has been taking place in the Celestial Kingdom. According to figures released last week by the China Wind Energy Association, last year China consolidated its position as the world's wind power leader in both newly and cumulative installed capacities, installing an impressive 17.6 gigawatts of wind turbines. Although the 2011 electrical generation figures were down 6.9 percent from 2010, by the end of 2011 the added production capability took China's cumulative installed wind power electrical generation to 62.4 gigawatts, up 39.4…

• Wind Industry Starts to Panic as Tax Credits Come to an End

  If you haven’t heard from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), you probably will. Ominous, scary ads are running nationwide warning of the crushing blow to American jobs if Congress fails to extend the Production Tax Credit (‘PTC’), the 20-year ‘temporary’ subsidy most credited for market growth in the wind sector. The PTC is due to expire at the end of this year. Most of the ads target particular House members who, so far, have resisted the industry’s demands for their PTC earmark. The pressure is particularly heated right now as Congress negotiates the payroll tax holiday bill, which is…

• Global Wind Power Capacity up 21% in 2011

  On Tuesday the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) released statistics that claim a total of over 41 gigawatts of new wind power were installed around the world in 2011. This represents an increase of 21% to a global capacity of 238 gigawatts. 75 countries can now boast wind power installations, with 22 countries having more than 1000 megawatts (1 gigawatt). Steve Sawyer, GWEC Secretary General, said that “Despite the state of the global economy, wind power continues to be the renewable generation technology of choice. 2011 was a tough year, as will be 2012, but the long term fundamentals of…

• Forget Wind Turbines - a Completely New Type of Wind Farm is in Development

  A design firm from New York, Atelier DNA, has developed a concept that uses cattail like stalks instead of traditional turbine blades for harnessing the power of wind. Planned for the city of Masdar, being built just outside of Abu Dhabi, the “Windstalk” project came in second in the Land Art Generator competition, generating renewable energy in an artistic way from a plethora of international submissions. Traditional wind turbines' biggest downfalls include noise pollution, inadvertent bird death trapping and general difficulties in installing such large structures. Atelier's new stalk design generates electricity when the wind sets them waving—minus the dreadful…

• U.S. - China Energy Trade War Imminent?

  Washington loves free trade – if it produces a surplus for the U.S. In an election year, with a modest economic recovery underway, American politicians are trumpeting their credentials in saving and creating jobs and protectionism sentiment against foreign products is rising. And the number one target? China. Hardly surprising, as during the period January-November China’s surplus balance of trade with the U.S. reached $272 billion, almost 8 percent higher than that registered during the corresponding period in the previous year, as U.S. consumers become more dependent on Chinese producers than ever before. Without directly criticizing China, during his State of the Union address on…

• Why Wind Power Doesn’t Live up to its Environmental Promises

  “I cannot abide the suggestion that we must sacrifice our environment in order to save it. This is an absurd argument enabling this energy imposter’s invasion of delicate habitat with little return. … Environmentalists must consider the possibility that industrial wind, by its failure to perform to stated goals, does not then qualify for this sacred consideration.” The heavily funded and admittedly effective U.S. industrial wind lobby portrays its product as descending from old-world windmills. Close your eyes and you’ll surely imagine these magnificent machines gently turning in the breeze … each kilowatt arriving at your reading lamp courtesy of…

• Uruguay Seeks Investments in Wind Power - With Price Caps

  The good news for potential investors in Uruguay is that two months ago Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining Ramon Mendez, commented that by 2015 Uruguay could have $1.3 billion dollars of wind farms if developers provided less expensive electricity than that generated by conventional fuel powered plants. Mednez added that Uruguay's state owned national power company Administracion Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Electricas (National Administration of Power Plants and Electric Transmissions, or UTE) could purchase up to 600 megawatts of electricity from projects from companies that participated in an auction for new wind farms, four times more than expected…

• China Wind Power - Good Time to Invest?

  With the ongoing financial turmoil in western markets nervous investors are looking more and more to overseas opportunities in order to protect their capital and few markets are more alluring than China. A potential consumer base of 1.4 billion consumers, all of whom would like their lights to be on 24/7, what's not to like, as the economy booms along despite the global recessional that began in 2008. Accordingly, investors look to the Celestial Empire as a potential safe haven. Given the turmoil in international markets, there are a number of problems involved in investing in China, not the least…

• Canada's Wind Future Take a Tumble

  Edgy energy investors seeking to diversify their portfolio away from Big Oil and nuclear have taken a revived interest in renewables, especially projects in investor-friendly countries with progressive governments. At the top of the list would be Canada, right? Stable, largely English-speaking, progressive and environmentally friendly, right? Therein hangs a tale, proving the timeless value of the adage, "caveat emptor." Trillium Power Wind Corp., according to its website, is "a privately owned company headquartered in Toronto committed to the development of offshore wind in Ontario and The Great Lakes region. The Trillium Power management team has developed and operated waterpower…