Into the Wind - the AWEA Blog

This falls into the category of, "we knew that, but it's nice to have more evidence."

Environmental group Greenpeace has published a report showing that Koch Industries, a little-known U.S. energy conglomerate, has been funding research and lobbying by other interest groups opposed to climate change legislation.

Greenpeace says, "From 2005 to 2008, the Kochs handed out almost $25 million to groups actively opposing clean energy legislation, carbon emissions regulations, and other environmental policies — groups like the Cato Institute, the Heritage ...

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With the health care ship finally set sail, the Obama Administration today returned to energy policy, perhaps hoping to begin setting the stage for action in Congress later this year on an energy bill that includes climate change provisions as well as a renewable energy standard (RES).

Obama delivered an energy speech at nearby Andrews Air Force, appearing against a backdrop of a military aircraft, perhaps to emphasize that energy security equals national security.

Obama noted that "America's energy security...has been a priority for my administration since the day I took office," ...

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Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) was joined by U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D) and a host of local, state, and federal officials at the groundbreaking ceremony today for a new manufacturing facility that will construct wind turbine towers in Monroe, Mich.

"Clean energy is one of the economic sectors we've targeted in our ongoing efforts to diversify Michigan's economy," Granholm said. "Ventower's state-of-the-art facility will help us toward our goal of making Michigan a center for green manufacturing."

Rep. Dingell noted, "This is also demonstrative of the great benefits and returns from the Recovery Act passed by Congress." Earlier this year, Ventower was awarded an advanced-energy manufacturing tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ...

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Guest blog by AWEA Communications Editor Carl Levesque

A just-announced 81-turbine order for utility We Energies’ Glacier Hills wind farm in Wisconsin will help bring new Vestas manufacturing facilities online in Colorado, the turbine manufacturer said this week.

The 1.8-MW turbines will be delivered in early 2011, with commissioning for the 145-MW project expected by the end of that year. The order includes a two-year service and maintenance agreement.

Vestas spokesman Peter Kruse told the Denver Business Journal that “everything you can see from the outside will be made in Colorado.” A Colorado blade manufacturing facility went online in 2008, and a tower plant is set to come online later this year. Nacelle assembly also will be ...

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A report this week from the Pew Trusts confirmed what AWEA's numbers have been saying: the United States is losing ground to China and European countries in investing in manufacturing for renewable energy.

The report notes that the United States invested $18.6 billion in clean energy in 2009, compared with $34.6 billion invested by China.

"The United States’ competitive position is at risk in the emerging clean energy economy,” said Phyllis Cuttino, who directs the Pew Environment Group’s Global Warming Campaign.

“Our nation has a critical choice to make: pass the federal policies necessary to position us as the world ...

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Wind project developer and AWEA member First Wind has produced a very nice and succinct 3-minute video about the benefits of a new wind farm in Cohocton, N.Y.

Some representative quotes from local citizens featured in the video:

"We've always had wind here ... my dad and I have talked about it for 25 years--you know, we ought to harness the wind and DO something with it."

"There were in excess of 250 people working on this project, and I know that over half of them were from the local area."

"I've seen a lot of changes--from horses to tractors, steam engines to diesel locomotives on the trains, and I like the project. I like the ...

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Quote :

Only Congress can keep thousands of clean jobs from going abroad at a time when America’s economic recovery demands the creation of millions of new jobs. Lawmakers must pass a renewable-electricity standard that, like those abroad, would require utilities to obtain 15 percent to 20 percent of their electricity from wind, solar and other alternative power sources by 2020.

We couldn't say it any better than that, which is from an

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Last year, a research company in Denmark produced a controversial report that questioned the credibility of the Danish wind industry, particularly claims that wind energy reduces carbon emissions.

The report raised eyebrows because the Danes are really good at wind energy--for example, they have come up with a system of power shifting and trading with their neighbors that can be a model for the United States when it gets serious about integrating wind into the utility system. At the time, Danish energy experts rebutted the study's major conclusions.

Now the Danish organization has publicly acknowledged that the report was funded by the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a U.S. organization with close ties to the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

The ...

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A story on the new wind farms that have sprung up in western Indiana during the past two years provides a useful perspective on the sometimes-mentioned issue of wind turbine sound:

Quote :

And when it comes to noise, nobody seems to take issue.

"I don't hear them at all," said Charlene Deckard.

"In the house I hear nothing," Elmira ...

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You don't need to understand all the details of the Westar case unless you are a utility lawyer or particular fan of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) intricacies. All you need to know is that FERC has given the Kansas utility the green light to charge a wind developer an exorbitant amount of money to connect to the transmission system.

Rob Gramlich, AWEA's senior vice president for public policy, said, "This flawed order, unless corrected on rehearing, sets a precedent that would add significant new costs to renewable energy nationally."

FERC accepted Westar's statement of the cost of integrating wind into the system without giving the wind industry a chance to rebut Westar's proposal.

"We are surprised and disappointed that ...

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