The Act on Facts map of Australia
Vestas, one of the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers, as well as Greenpeace and other environmental groups, have launched a campaign to push back at a virulent anti-wind lobby that continually distorts the truth about the electricity-generating technology in Australia.
“The wind industry is being challenged by an anti-wind lobby that often disregards factual information,” Vestas said, adding the new “Act on Facts” campaign is the company’s way of ensuring global citizens have an informed and balanced perspective about emissions-free wind energy.
In a statement, Vestas said atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have passed the 400 parts per million (ppm) mark and are well on the way to the 450 ppm tipping point after which there’s no turning back. Saying the effects of climate change are very real, the company added extreme weather events are becoming more frequent while ice caps are melting, forests are burning, and coasts are flooding.
“As part of the solution, wind power helps tip the balance back in our favour,” the company continued. “Yet anti-wind activists sometimes via deception and misinformation are threatening a promising move toward a clean energy future and the investments and jobs that that future holds.”
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There is huge potential for wind energy in the coldest regions of the globe, a new report from the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests.
The VTT cites the latest forecasts, which show that between 45 and 50 gigawatts of wind energy will be built in cold climates by 2017. This would mean an increase of as much as 72% since the end of 2012 and investments amounting to approximately €75 billion.
VTT has conducted what it claims is the first ever study into the feasibility of building wind turbines across the globe in areas where cold climate and icy conditions place special demands on wind turbine technology. In addition to Scandinavia and Canada, these areas also include parts of Central Europe, the US and China. Cold climates represent encouraging potential for wind energy companies because of their sparse population and favourable wind conditions, says the centre.
“This is a huge opportunity,” says VTT research scientist Tomas Wallenius. “We already have the tools to harness the potential of cold climate wind energy cost-effectively.”
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The world is not on track to reach its goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2°C, warned the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday.
Highlighting the need for intensive action in the energy sector before 2020, the IEA noted that the energy sector accounts for about two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.
“Climate change has quite frankly slipped to the back burner of policy priorities,” Marie van der Hoeven, IEA Executive Director said in a press release that accompanied the London launch of an IEA report, Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map. “But the problem is not going away – quite the opposite.”
“This report shows that the path we are currently on is more likely to result in a temperature increase of between 3.6 °C and 5.3 °C but also finds that much more can be done to tackle energy-sector emissions without jeopardising economic growth, an important concern for many governments,” van der Hoeven said.
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Government and financial institutions around the world must pledge to invest at least US$40 billion (€30.6 billion) in renewable energy over the next 12 months as a way of fighting climate change, according to a campaign launched this week by the environmental NGO the WWF.
“We are running out of time,” says Jim Leape, director general of WWF International, launching the campaign Seize Your Power. “We know that if we continue to rely on fossil fuels we will face a future of worsening air pollution and an increasingly inhospitable climate. It is now our collective responsibility to commit to the future we want. We call on political and financial decision-makers to seize their power to make the switch to clean and sustainable renewable energy and end the inertia of coal, oil and gas.”
Anyone and everyone can sign the pledge on the WWF’s website to encourage governments and financial institutions to put their money where their mouth is, and promise greater funds for wind, solar and water power. The campaign will run in 20 countries around the world and be targeted at public finance, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds.
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Belgium’s supreme health council (Conseil Supérieur de la Santé, CSS) – a scientific body which advises the government – has called for a “reflection” on the development of wind energy, citing apparent health concerns.
The CSS would do well to note that an increasing body of evidence exists showing that there is no link between wind turbines and adverse health effects.
In 2010 the Australian Government National Health Medical Research Council concluded: “there are no direct pathological effects from wind farms and that any potential impact on humans can be minimised by following existing planning guidelines.” In January 2012 a study for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said: “there is insufficient evidence that noise from wind turbines is directly…causing health problems or disease.” continue reading »
