World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

October 19, 2003 – Vol.8 No.30

WORLD WIND WATCH.

Four more offshore wind projects have been given the go-ahead by the U.K. government. All of the projects will be built on the east coast and each project will have 30 turbines using turbines of 3.6 - 4.0 megawatts capacity.

The projects are: a 108-megawatt facility at Lynn, off the coast of Skegness in Lincolnshire; a 120-megawatt facility at Inner Dowsing, north of Skegness; a 120-megawatt project off the coast of Cromer in Norfolk and a 108-megawatt project at Gunfleet Sands off Clacton-on-Sea in Essex. Visit the British Wind Energy Association at http://www.bwea.com/ .

In a survey of 1000 Australians, 95 percent supported wind power for the Land Down Under, though fewer, but still a significant majority of 76 percent, were willing to pay an additional 5 percent more on their utility bills for 10 percent more renewable energy.

The survey, conducted by the Australian Wind Energy Association (AusWEA) also showed that 94 percent supported Australia’s Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) and 71 percent thought that reducing greenhouse gases outweighs protecting industries that rely on fossil fuels. The full AusWEA survey can be found at http://www.auswea.com.au/ (click News and Events).

A change in climate does not just mean more rainfall, less snowfall or more drought. Wind conditions may change too. Some parts of the world may get windier, in others the wind may subside.

Since wind projects are built to last for decades - a period time by which a region’s climate could possibly change because of global warming - how might a might a wind project fare in the near future? Will windier conditions cause a project to be more productive, or will the winds stop and turbines cease to spin?

3TIER Environmental Forecast Group and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have announced a joint research project to study the effects of climate change on wind energy in the Northwest.

One of the PNNL researchers, Dr. Ruby Leung is currently studying the effects of climate change on air quality in the U.S. for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The results of that study will be we used in the effort to examine wind patterns, thus wind farm production. Visit 3TIER Environmental Forecast Group at http://www.3tiergroup.com/ .

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) has announced that leases will be available for wind projects on state-owned land by April of 2004. The state, which has become a leader in the U.S. in wind power outside of California, is trying to attract even more wind development.

Of particular interest is the possibility of offshore wind. In an unusual law, the state owns land - much of it shallow enough to plant turbines - out 10.3 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. There is also the potential to use abandoned offshore oil and natural gas rigs for offshore wind development. Visit the GLO at http://www.glo.state.tx.us/