Further proof of China’s desire to aggressively tap into the still nascent, and potentially highly lucrative, offshore wind power sector as part of its plan to embrace a green energy revolution was revealed earlier this week in a story by ClimateWire.

The story, published by Environment & Energy Publishing and distributed by The New York Times, also pointed out just how much further China is ahead of the US in developing its offshore wind industry.

“What the U.S. doesn’t realise,” the story quoted Peggy Liu, founder and chairwoman of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, as saying, is that China “is going from manufacturing hub to the clean-tech laboratory of the world.” continue reading »

Mongolia, wind turbine by Elke Zander

Mongolia has recently indicated it wants to become part of an international green energy revolution by harnessing vast amounts of wind energy for export to its power-hungry neighbour China.

Stories and blog postings last week reported that the remote land-locked country in northern Asia has indicated it would like the development of wind, solar and other renewable energies to be subsidized by the nation’s considerable mining projects.

A Wall Street Journal posting noted that Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold discussed at a special cabinet meeting in the Gobi Desert the county’s plans for massive investments “in alternative energy and to export wind power to China — enough to equal 40 million tons of coal.” continue reading »

During the last weekend in August, wind power met the demand for electricity for the first time in the north and northeast of Scotland. In Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen and Inverness wind power kept the lights on, the washing machines turning and the kettles boiling from 8.00 on Saturday 28 August to 9.00 on 29 August.

Just over 700 MW of wind energy was produced in that time frame, while consumer demand for electricity was just under 700 MW, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) said.

Alan Broadbent, from Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution, said that this “milestone demonstrates that wind farms can produce substantial amounts of energy, as part of a diverse mix, and that electricity networks can accommodate it.” continue reading »

Wind power companies and French citizens are waiting for an announcement later this month that the nation is finally going to capitalize on its extensive coastline and enter — in a big way — the growing offshore wind sector.

News reports and various websites are publishing stories saying that Environment and Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo is expected to announce in September initial tenders for offshore wind farms that will include up to 600 wind turbines.

Agence France Presse says the tenders will relate to 10 billion euros to build 3,000 MW of offshore capacity at five to ten sites in Normandy, Brittany and the regions of Pays de la Loire and Languedoc by 2015. continue reading »

Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist – a book first published in 1998 which argued that claims about global warming were over-played and were leading to climate change hysteria – appears to have made a u-turn in his beliefs.

In a new book set for the shops next month, Lomborg will argue for “tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change”, according to a story published by the Guardian. Funds should flow towards R&D investments in clean energy such as wind and wave, he told the British daily newspaper. This should be financed through a tax on carbon emissions, he said.

But the Skeptical Environmentalist’s volte face has met with its own measure of scepticism. Greenpeace said Lomborg’s conversion comes too late. Meanwhile Howard Friel, writer for the 350 ppm campaign blog, finds that Lomborg still claims that it is prohibitively expensive for the world to sharply reduce CO2 emissions to the level suggested by scientists to prevent dangerous climate change. continue reading »