If you’ve ever asked yourself, or want to show someone else, how a wind turbine works, check out EWEA’s easy-to-use interactive tool.

It allows you to play with the three main variables that determine how much electricity a wind turbine can produce:

The wind speed: Stronger winds produce more energy. Wind turbines generate energy at wind speeds starting from 4 metres per second (a gentle breeze) up to speeds of 30 metres per second (a violent storm). Over 30 metres per second (which happens rarely), the turbine is stopped from turning. continue reading »

The growing wind power sector is expected to play a pivotal role in an ambitious plan launched Thursday by the UK government to overhaul the nation’s antiquated and overburdened electricity market.

The announcement noted current arrangements have to be reformed to allow equal access to the electricity market for wind power and other renewable electricity technologies.

A government press release said the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Treasury together have started consultations on fundamental reforms to the electricity market to ensure the UK can meet its climate goals and have a secure, affordable supply of electricity in the long term. continue reading »

There’s no shortage of developments in the US offshore wind power sector these days even though there is still not a single wind turbine generating power off the nation’s eastern coast.

Capturing most media attention last week was Deepwater Wind which announced its plans to construct the Deepwater Wind Energy Center (DWEC), the first of the ‘second generation’ of offshore wind farms in the US.

Deepwater said the new facility would have a capacity of approximately 1,000 megawatts (MW) and the ability to act as a regional offshore wind energy center serving multiple states. continue reading »

Almost 10,000 people have taken part in the EWEA 2010 campaign by adopting wind turbines or voting for the ones their friends had adopted in order to show their support for wind energy.

The ‘Breath of fresh air’ campaign is coming to an exciting point in just a few days: EWEA will be able to announce the two winners of the ‘tell a friend’ contest who will win a trip to Denmark and Switzerland.

One prize is a weekend in Copenhagen including a wind farm visit organised by the Danish Wind Industry Association. Denmark is the world’s wind energy pioneer with more than 20% of its electricity being produced by wind. Denmark is also home to major wind turbine manufacturers and its capital, home to the oldest monarchy in the world, has numerous museums, world-class modern architecture and a network of canals and cobbled squares that will take you back in time. continue reading »

Overcoming inertia and self-interests, the international community reached an agreement early today on the need to curb global warming and set the world on a path to a more sustainable future.

While both industrialised and developing nations came together in Cancun, no deal was struck on reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning fossil fuels.

Most observers acknowledged the agreement was much better than the non-binding Copenhagen Accord reached at last year’s UN climate change conference. Of the 193 nations attending the Cancun conference, only Bolivia rejected the agreement, saying it did not go far enough. continue reading »