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| 25 Feb 2009 01:09:54 am |
 Notes from AWEA's Project Siting Workshop |
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Neither national economic woes nor Seattle's legendary moisture dampened turnout at this year's AWEA Project Siting Workshop--more than 380 are attending, slightly higher than last year's turnout. The traffic at the exhibit booths is reported to be heavy and very engaged, and the networking during coffee breaks has been noisy and intense.
The workshop agenda reflects the Northwest location and the prominence of renewables in the region; it includes discussion of specific siting challenges and opportunities in all of the key Northwest states. The workshop's program chair, Suzanne Leta Liou, senior policy advocate at the Renewable Northwest Project, based in Portland, Ore., and very active throughout the region, continues the Northwest theme.
Finally, there are the animals--bats, ground squirrels, sage grouse, among others, all impacted by wind farms to some degree. Edward Arnett, co-director of programs at Bat Conservation International, gave a riveting status report on the research now underway to determine whether there are effective ways to reduce bat mortality at wind farms. The study, now undergoing peer review, will be released later in the year.
Other human speakers highlighted the importance of monitoring and measuring the impact of wind farms on ground squirrel habitats during that part of the year that they are above ground; sage grouse warranted their own session at the workshop.
The point of all the sessions is to help those attending the workshop maneuver carefully through the ever-complex siting landscape as wind energy continues to grow.
As Chairwoman Leta Liou put it, "We are hoping to present a sense of the broad scope of regulatory, permitting and community challenges to siting wind projects, in the Northwest in particular. One thing that attendees will hear consistently is the critical importance of engaging with stakeholders—state agencies, permitting authorities, landowners, and others--early and often, and the need to continue that engagement after construction. " |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 24 Feb 2009 08:09:44 pm |
| Wind Wildlife Group Names First President |
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The American Wind and Wildlife Institute (AWWI), a national organization committed to responsible wind development as well as wildlife protection, has chosen Kraig Butrum to serve as its first President.
Butrum has 25 years experience in nonprofit organizations, including the National Park Foundation and Conservation International. “The time is now for America to address global climate change, diversify its energy base and lessen its dependence on foreign sources of oil,” said Butrum.
AWWI was founded late last year by 20 conservation and environmental groups and wind energy companies. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 23 Feb 2009 07:00:00 pm |
| Bode Joins National Leaders at Clean Energy Summit |
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“I have good news for you – 8,300 megawatts of wind energy were installed in the U.S. last year, and 70 new manufacturing facilities were opened, expanded or announced in the past two years – bringing many thousands of jobs to the U.S. economy,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode at the National Clean Energy Project Summit today.
The summit was a discussion among top government, business, and non-profit leaders, with Bode joining former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, current Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and businessman and wind power advocate T. Boone Pickens, among others. The discussion focused on deploying renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies quickly and effectively, for the sake of revitalizing our economy, protecting our environment, and making our country more secure. The leaders supported a national renewable electricity standard, an expanded transmission highway for renewable electricity and an electricity grid that utilizes efficiency technologies.
Bode described the opportunity for wind energy development in America as “unbelievable,” but noted that our country needs to send long-term signals to the business community in the form of a renewable electricity standard, and needs to eliminate the policy barriers that are impeding the development of a green interstate highway for electricity. Those barriers, and proposed solutions, are described in AWEA and SEIA’s recent publication, Green Power Superhighways: Building a Path to America’s Clean Energy Future.
Senator Reid said that Congress would be moving forward with energy legislation in the coming months. He said that he expects this legislation to include a national renewable electricity standard and the beginnings of legislation on interstate transmission highway development.
Missed the event and want to watch the recording? See it here: http://nationalcleanenergyproject.org/ |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Mary Kate Francis |
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| 23 Feb 2009 04:10:00 pm |
| Dutch Study: Integrating Large Scale Wind Works |
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A new study by a Dutch researcher concludes that Dutch power stations can integrate large amounts of wind power as long as use is made of up-to-date, improved wind forecasts. The study, by a PHD candidate at TU Delft, also concluded that there is no need for storage facilities because new forecasting models make it easier to integrate variable wind conditions into the power system.
"The results show that in the Netherlands we can integrate between 4 GW and 10 GW into the grid without needing any additional measures," said Lex Hartman, TenneT’s Director of Corporate Development. Tennet is a transmission system operator.
The use of wind power in the Dutch electricity system could lead to a reduction in production costs of EUR1.5 billion annually and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 19 million tons a year, according to TU Delft.
For more information about the study, contact bart.ummels@siemens.com. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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| 22 Feb 2009 12:05:52 am |
| Windpower Adds Community Wind Session |
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Windpower 2009, to be held in Chicago May 4-7, will devote two sessions to Community Wind, an increase from the single session at last year's conference and expo. Jeff Wright president of Midwest Wind Finance (MWF), will chair both sessions.
The sessions will be focus on opportunities for local ownership of wind turbines. The mission of Midwest Wind Finance is "to do whatever it takes to support community wind development," Wright said.
The challenges facing community wind developers include negotiating power purchase agreements, sourcing wind turbines, securing financing and managing the sequence of late-stage development steps, Wright said.
Windpower 2009 will be held at McCormick Place convention center. |
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Category : AWEA News
| By : Chris Madison |
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