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[caption id="attachment_5989" align="alignright" width="270" caption="The Roscoe, Texas, project became the world's largest win farm."][/caption]
The US wind industry will finish 2009 ahead of projections for wind installations, though the numbers will still fall behind the industry’s record-breaking year in 2008.
“It’s not a bad year given the financial crisis,” said Liz Salerno, director of industry data and analysis at the American Wind Energy Association, in a news conference this week.
We’re used to windy debates in Washington. Now the debates about wind have blown in gale force.
It’s been a while coming. At first, wind power seemed hard to argue against. It is emissions-free, technologically proven, shovel-ready, local and works well on the gusty plains of the US – with one key roadblock, there are some kinks to work out in getting it from there to here on the unprepared national grid system. The plan for many was straightforward: Fix the grid, keep building turbines, replace fossil-fuel dependent energy with renewal wind, and keep adding to an already robust wind sector job force of some 80,000.
[caption id="attachment_4901" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Texas wind turbines (Photo: Texas State Energy Conservation Office.)"][/caption]
The job market has been blowing in a positive direction when it comes to wind energy, with power companies building turbines, hiring technicians and pushing grid improvements to reach more consumers.
In 2008, wind energy created 35,000 jobs and accounted for 42 percent of new energy production installed in that year, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). That burst was part of an upward trajectory begun a few years before.
But after the economic implosion of late 2008, the picture didn’t look so bright. By 2009 even wind development took a hit from negative gusts in the economy. The downturn idled some wind projects, among other green programs, all vulnerable because of their dependence on investment capital.
Bird and bat deaths from wind farms have been among the few environmental negatives of this growing source of alternative energy. But a new study offers hope that a solution can be found.
A new study of the interaction between bats and wind turbines at the Casselman Wind Power Project found that turning off the turbines during low wind periods reduced bat mortality by more than 70 percent.
Iberdrola Renewables, owner of the Casselman wind farm in southwestern Pennsylvania, partnered with independent conservation group Bat Conservation International (BCI) to collect the data. From late July to mid-October 2008, Iberdrola Renewables and BCI researchers conducted a controlled experiment in which selected wind turbines at the Casselman project were stopped during relatively low wind-speed nights in the late summer and early fall.
By Laura Elizabeth May
Green Right Now
The American Wind Energy Association has announced the launch of a blog dedicated to providing wind industry insights. Into the Wind will offer current information about one of the country’s leading sources of renewable energy generation. The blog will provide the knowledge, expertise and experiences of AWEA members and staff.
“From [...]
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A new study of the interaction between bats and wind turbines at the Casselman Wind Power Project found that turning off the turbines during low wind periods reduced bat mortality by more than 70 percent.