wind farm impact News
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NASA Satellite Measurements Imply Texas Wind Farm Impact On Surface Temperature
A Texas region containing four of the world's largest wind farms showed an increase in land surface temperature over nine years that researchers have connected to local meteorological effects of the turbines. The land surface temperature around the west-central Texas wind farms warmed at a rate of .72 degrees Celsius per decade during the study period relative to nearby regions without wind ...
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Offshore load warnings, bullish bids turn spotlight on models
Offshore load factor downgrades are spurring more rigorous wind modelling as developers assume higher factors for future projects. In October, Orsted announced it had been overestimating the load factors of its offshore wind farms by underestimating the impact of wake and blockage effects. The world's leading offshore developer, Orsted will have an installed capacity of 7.5 GW by the end of ...
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Environmental Protection UK urges joined-up thinking and sound guidance on wind turbine noise assessment
Environmental Protection UK welcomes guidance published today by DEFRA, which aims to help local authorities investigate complaints about noise from wind farms. his comes after the publication of DECC commissioned research last week, that highlighted the need for clear, up to date guidance on how wind turbine noise impact is assessed in development proposals, which is urgently needed to reduce ...
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New tool to assess the ecological impacts of offshore wind turbines
How do offshore wind farms affect marine wildlife? A new study outlines a systematic approach developed for Swedish waters that could also be useful for assessing wind energy impacts on the marine environment more widely. Under the 20-20-20 targets, the EU is committed to increasing the proportion of its energy that is produced from renewable resources to 20% by 2020. To address this challenge, ...
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New index to rank acceptability of onshore wind farms
A new study has developed a scoring system that could help authorities approve proposals for onshore wind plants. It considered four aspects of a wind farm: the technical properties, the social impact, the environmental impact and the share of earnings offered as compensation for any negative effects. The EU climate change and energy package1 has set a number of targets to be met by 2020, ...
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Giant British wind farm plans blown away
The Scottish government has a number of powers separate from the British government in London, including planning and environment policy. Lewis Wind Power, a consortium of AMEC and British Energy, had proposed constructing 181 turbines, with a capacity of 651.6 megawatts -- enough to meet the average domestic electricity requirement of more than 20 percent of Scotland's population. 'The Lewis ...
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Local authority cuts could delay wind farm decisions
In their latest state of the industry report, trade body Renewable UK found that the approval rate for onshore wind fell in the past year - to 55% of applications compared to 83% in the previous year. The industry express concern that pending planning reforms in England – such as the abolition of regional spatial strategies and proposals to limit applicants' right of appeal could have "a ...
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Possible effects of giant wind farms on the weather
Wind power can make a large contribution towards renewable energy targets but there are concerns about their impacts on the weather. A new study models the effects of a hypothetical giant wind farm in North America on the weather. The researchers suggest that it could be possible to use these effects positively. The EU set itself the target of increasing the share of renewables in energy use in ...
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ACCIONA Energy Introduces U.S. and Canada Avian and Bat Protection Plan
ACCIONA Energy announced today the formalization of its U.S. and Canada Avian and Bat Protection Plan. The company's internal plan sets guidelines that evaluate and address the impact that wind farm development has on wildlife and aims to help conserve the 1007 species of migratory birds currently protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The plan, two years in the making, outlines ...
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Offshore wind critical to secure Japan’s energy security, and continued focus on RD&D needed, says the Carbon Trust
Japan’s offshore wind industry needs to accelerate Research, Development and Deployment (RD&D) efforts to reduce the country’s exposure to the highly volatile costs of imported energy and secure its future energy supply, according to a series of reports released today by the Carbon Trust. Japan’s offshore wind industry needs to accelerate Research, Development and ...
By Carbon Trust
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Which birds are most at risk from wind farm collisions?
Wind power is likely to play an increasingly role in generating renewable energy throughout Europe. Migrating birds are thought to be vulnerable to collisions with the wind turbines. A recent Danish study has designed a risk management tool to identify the most vulnerable bird species. Assessing the impact of offshore wind farms on all species of migrating birds is difficult and radar ...
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Measuring emotional response and acceptance of wind turbines
Wind energy will likely continue to play a leading role in reaching the EU’s renewable energy targets. However, in some areas wind turbines face social opposition based in large part on the visual impact of wind turbines in the landscape. A new study outlines a novel methodology to measure emotional response to wind turbine visuals, which may assist wind farm planners in gauging public ...
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EBRD finances construction of new wind farm in Bulgaria
€60 million syndicated loan to build Suvorovo wind farm The EBRD is supporting the development of renewable energy in Bulgaria with a €60 million syndicated loan to Eolica Bulgaria to finance the development of the Suvorovo wind farm, in the north-eastern region of the country. Similar to many countries in the region, Bulgaria relies significantly on thermal and nuclear sources to satisfy its ...
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What drives general acceptance of offshore wind farms?
General acceptance of offshore wind farms is most positively influenced by reductions in fossil fuel imports and contributions to global warming mitigation, and most negatively by concerns about increases in electricity price and impacts on scenic views, US research suggests. Other factors, such as reductions in air pollution, were not closely related to general acceptance even though on average ...
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Favorable Winds Blow for Offshore Wind Power, Says Frost & Sullivan
Future prospects to depend on novel developments in foundation solutions Wind energy is the most mature technology among all renewable energy solutions. Finding appropriate sites for developing onshore wind farms might, however, soon pose a challenge due to dense urbanization (especially in western Europe) and concerns about the negative visual impact that wind farms could have on the ...
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Windy December lifts Orsted 2019 profit; UK to develop new offshore grid networks
Our pick of the latest wind power news you need to know. Orsted beats operating profit outlook after windy December Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind developer, beat its full-year operating profit outlook in 2019, but expects slightly lower earnings in 2020, the company announced January 30. Annual earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by ...
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