I have just come back to a chilly Belgium still streaked with snow after nearly a month in the Australian summer. Australia is a vast country, soaked in sunshine and swept by strong winds. Yet on my travels from Perth in the west to the central deserts and onto the east coast, I did not once spy a wind turbine in the endless landscape.
Australia is rich in coal, on which it has historically relied for its energy needs – and unsurprisingly, it is one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters per capita. Yet the signs are that it may be waking up to the importance of tackling climate change and slowly turning towards renewables: in 2009, a national target was set of 20% of electricity supply from renewables by 2020.
Moreover, former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s decision to delay the implementation of a carbon trading scheme was part of the reason he was replaced by Julia Gillard last year, as public support for climate action increases. continue reading »
In the frenzied lead up to the Christmas-New Year’s holiday season, some fascinating news about another potential benefit of wind power received little attention in the mainstream media.
A report out of Ames, Iowa suggests that wind turbines in farm fields may be helping crops of corn and soybeans to have increased yields because they can remain cooler and dryer in hot summer months while fighting off fungal infestations.
Preliminary findings of a months-long research program aimed at studying how wind turbines on farmlands interact with surrounding crops also raises the possibility that rotating turbine blades improve the ability of corn and soybeans to extract atmospheric CO2, a needed “fuel” for crops, according to a press release. continue reading »
By Justin Wilkes
All 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans have now been submitted to the European Commission. We at EWEA have done an analysis of the plans. As expected they show that the EU as a whole will exceed its target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020.
Taking all 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans together we see that EU countries expect to meet 20.7% of their energy consumption from renewables.
This would mean that 34% of all electricity in the EU in 2020 would come from renewables – 14% from wind energy alone: making wind Europe’s leading renewable energy source. continue reading »
Reviewing a year’s worth of work can focus the mind on important developments. That seems especially true for wind power, which in 2010 was embraced by, among other organisations, Ikea, Google, Bacardi and the US Army.
With those eclectic endorsements in mind, here are 10 developments from 2010 that have stuck with me:
1. Thumbs down to the US Senate for killing off a modest climate change bill due to partisanship and lobbying by narrow self-interests. Thumbs up, though, to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who are both big promoters of wind energy. continue reading »
Scotland continues promoting its very aggressive pro-wind position as a way of driving increased energy security, a green economy and mitigating climate change.
The latest development occurred last week when First Minister Alex Salmond and more than 30 senior energy industry leaders met in Aberdeen to talk about the oil and gas industries and the renewable power sector collaborating to advance Scotland’s transition to a low carbon economy.
“Scotland already, per head of population, has ten-times the renewable energy of England but as the industry moves offshore we have even more potential,” Salmond told the summit Friday. continue reading »
I have just come back to a chilly Belgium still streaked with snow after nearly a month in the Australian summer. Australia is a vast country, soaked in sunshine and swept by strong winds. Yet on my travels from Perth in the west to the central deserts and onto the east coast, I did not once spy a wind turbine in the endless landscape.
