• Ontario citizen takes legal aim at government of Ontario’s flagship Green Energy Act, 2009

    Updated: 2009-10-19 21:29:00
    Toronto, October 19, 2009 – “The Green Energy Act, 2009 and its regulations clearly do not appear to meet the requirements of law in the province of Ontario,” said lawyer Eric Gillespie today in a news conference at Queen’s Park. On behalf of his client Ian Hanna, Gillespie explained that a court application was filed earlier today for judicial review of the Green Energy Act, 2009 based on the Precautionary Principle as it applies to industrial wind turbine installations. Mr. Hanna . . .

  • Group confident that courts will halt wind farm

    Updated: 2009-10-19 21:07:04
    DeKALB – Even though some of 151 wind turbines planned for DeKalb and Lee counties have already been built, citizens who oppose the project are confident they can still halt construction. “If we indeed prevail, and in our opinion, we will, … they will be stopped from ever turning [the turbines] on and will be asked to remove them,” said Rick Porter, attorney for a 39-person group known as the Citizens for Open Government. On July 21, the group filed a lawsuit . . .

  • Foes of Henderson wind project organize

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:53:29
    HEART OF HENDERSON: Committees studying various aspects; some members against turbines in general HENDERSON — Not so fast! Opponents of the proposed industrial wind development in the town have formed a group called Heart of Henderson. The group, which has more than a dozen members so far, is made up of both seasonal and full-time residents of the town. They have become more vocal as the details of the possible Stony Point Wind Farm become clear. Stony Point Wind Energy LLC is . . .

  • SNP delegates face windfarm protest

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:45:25
    SNP conference delegates in Inverness were faced with a giant billboard mounted on a lorry driven by a solitary protester challenging the party’s “broken election pledge” to cap onshore windfarm development. Highlands Against Windfarms campaigner Bob Graham made his point, with the aid of a cab-mounted speaker system, outside Eden Court Theatre. But he feared his message had largely fallen on deaf ears. Mr Graham said: “The two days I was there, it was interesting to talk to members of the SNP . . .

  • Opposition to wind turbines starting to grow; Health effects, noise, costs are concerns

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:43:30
    There’s a farmer in Northumberland County, east of Oshawa, who wants to build a house for his daughter on his farm, but he can’t because he’s on the heavily protected Oak Ridges Moraine. But it’s OK to lease his land to a company that will put up multiple wind turbines and turn his property into a wind farm. And they’ll pay him five figures a year to do it. That’s just one of many contradictions emerging as wind project proposals multiply like . . .

  • Residents angry over wind farm plans

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:37:49
    A Tamworth public inquiry into wind farms in the northern tablelands has heard the developments do not comply with local planning guidelines. The New South Wales Planning Department has bypassed local government controls to push the projects through. A number of residents told the inquiry that noise and vibrations from the turbines will force them to move if the projects go ahead in their current form. Graham Price, the director of development and environmental services at Glen Innes Severn Council, says the State . . .

  • BLM asks for more public comment on China Mountain

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:35:19
    Federal biologists are still researching what effects a 185-turbine wind farm would have on the desert southwest of Rogerson. But the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is now asking for more public comment on the proposal, this time on a modification to the resource management plan that governs whether the agency can even consider allowing a wind farm in its Jarbidge Field Office. The China Mountain project would place turbines generating up to 425 megawatts in parts of a largely federal, 30,700-acre . . .

  • Young brothers stride out into wilderness in windfarm protest

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:31:25
    Nairn family urges decision-makers to protect landscape Three young brothers are preparing for a sponsored walk to a favourite beauty spot they fear will be destroyed if Highland Council approves plans for more than 100 giant wind turbines in the area. Nairn Academy pupils Marc Woods, 15, and his brother Peter, 12, will be joined on the 18-mile journey tomorrow by their mother Katrina, walking from their home in George Street, Nairn, to the wilderness of Lochindorb near Grantown. Their seven-year-old brother, . . .

  • Stop using windfarms to destroy the beauty of our Cornish landscape

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:29:00
    Wind turbines can be a contentious subject especially for people who live close to where they operate, writes columnist Andrew Gordon. Cornwall has seen dozens of them shoot up over the past decade or so and will surely see a lot more over the coming years. I tend to think they’re a good thing on the whole, but it’s a fact that they will never be able to provide enough electricity to power the National Grid and that’s why the Government . . .

  • Deadline approaching for Green Power Project compliance

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:25:57
    CSU’s developer in building a wind farm north of Fort Collins to help power the university will have to fix several “problems” with its project lease, including “outstanding financial obligations,” by the end of next week after CSU held the company in default over the summer. But Bruce Morley, the CEO of Wind Holding LLC, said last week that the contract it has with the university, which he said “is self-extending for things that are out of our control like the . . .

  • Work starts on city turbine plan

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:22:50
    A Newport chemical company has started with its plans to install two wind turbines. Solutia UK was granted planning permission by Newport city council in August to have a pair of 2.5 megawatt wind turbines on the south side of the company’s site on Traston Road in Nash. These are Gwent’s first commercial wind turbines and are being installed by Wind Direct. The turbines’ six blades were delivered to the site in a convoy of six trucks at around 6am yesterday from Newport . . .

  • Environmental concerns delay solar projects in California desert

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:20:33
    Several companies seek to build renewable-energy facilities on public land — a goal backed by the White House — but the slow permit process and fears over imperiled species have hindered construction. Reporting from El Centro, Calif. – Across the desert flatlands of southeastern California, dozens of companies have flooded federal offices with applications to place solar mirrors on more than a million acres of public land. But just as some of those projects appear headed toward fruition, environmental hurdles . . .

  • E.ON condemns overambitious targets for green energy

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:17:15
    Government plans to generate 30 per cent of UK electricity from renewable sources by 2020 are doomed to failure, according to the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest utility companies. Wulf Bernotat, chief executive of E.ON, said that British politicians needed to stop misleading the public about what was achievable. He said that British plans to build 33 gigawatts of offshore wind power, up from 0.6 gigawatts at present, was impossible, given the necessary investment and relatively short timeframe. “Politicians . . .

  • Consider wind issues when you vote Nov. 3

    Updated: 2009-10-19 11:06:52
    For the past 10-plus years, our county and school taxes have gone up year after year. For the past three to four years, there has been an increasing threat of industrial-type wind complexes moving into the town of Lyme and many other towns in Jefferson County. All over this country, these so-called wind farms are built on farmland, which in many cases receives farm subsidies paid by the taxpayer. Then taxpayer money is used to subsidize wind turbines built on their . . .

  • Grand Valley State University’s test turbine planned for Lake Michigan

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:57:49
    Grand Valley State University’s wind turbine testing project for Muskegon Lake is shifting in a new direction. Instead of a wind turbine at the east end of Muskegon Lake, GVSU’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center now is planning to move one to a Lake Michigan platform, where data can be collected on the pros and cons of turbines on a major lake. The university has received $1.4 million in an “earmark” from U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, to advance wind turbine . . .

  • Giant wind turbines would “obliterate an area of natural beauty” says MP Mike Hall

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:57:05
    Contentious plans to build a giant wind farm on a bird sanctuary was blasted this week by Runcorn MP Mike Hall. Peel Energy has unveiled a project to erect 21 turbines on Frodsham marshes, overlooking Runcorn and the Mersey estuary. Mr Hall said: “I am totally opposed to this proposal. “It would completely obliterate the whole of Frodsham marshes, an area of natural beauty, an ecological treasure of breeding birds and wildlife.” He said there was no evidence that the wind farm would contribute . . .

  • Follow the money

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:56:44
    Let me get this straight. Central Maine Power is requesting a $1.4 billion upgrade of the transmission system from the Maine Public Utilities Commission. (Sun Journal, Sept. 30). This transmission system will not benefit Maine because it is to increase transmission capacity between Orrington to the New Hampshire border right out of the state. I think that is about 125 miles. That’s a pretty expensive project to take full advantage of wind power. CMP stands to increase its net income . . .

  • Ranges classification plan could stymie wind farms

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:41:31
    A proposal to classify the Tararua Ranges behind Horowhenua as an outstanding natural landscape is opening up a wind farm debate among landowners. Under the Horowhenua District Council’s proposed District Plan change, 22 wind turbines, each about 65 metres tall, would not get resource consent to be built in the ranges. If the changes go through, buildings and network utilities taller than three metres would be classed as non-complying activities in the three areas identified as outstanding natural landscapes or features. Wind farms . . .

  • UK renewable energy target ‘naive’ says Wulf Bernotat

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:37:30
    Wulf Bernotat looks cold — and sceptical. “Are you sure we are making any money out of this?” the chief executive of E.ON, the world’s largest utility company, asks one of his employees. “This is a business, you know.” Mr Bernotat is in the gritty Swedish city of Malmö, standing in a windswept former dockyard that E.ON has helped to convert into a “zero-carbon city”. Hands thrust deep into his overcoat pockets and with his collar turned up against the biting air, . . .

  • Palo Duro Canyon deserves protection from power lines

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:30:25
    The Texas Panhandle, blessed with a surplus of wind, has huge wind farms on the horizon that will produce energy for more populous areas such as Dallas and Austin. But also on the horizon are the miles of massive, double-circuit lattice towers and high-voltage CREZ transmission lines needed to transport that energy, the likes of which the Panhandle has never seen. The burning question: Where should all of those towers and transmission lines be located? An even hotter question: Should the . . .

  • New energy era blows into Scotland’s forests

    Updated: 2009-10-19 10:28:28
    Forestry Commission Scotland is ramping up its contribution to generating clean and renewable energy by developing more wind energy projects on its land. To achieve this, energy companies are being invited to form partnerships with the Commission to build wind energy projects at suitable locations across Scotland. Estimates suggest that the wind potential available on the Commission’s land could meet the needs of over a million homes and has the potential to generate £30 million a year by 2020. Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary . . .

  • RSPB causing harm to birds across Europe

    Updated: 2009-10-19 01:17:31
    The Red Kite International Symposium took place Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th in Montbéliard, France. Contrary to delegates from Germany, Italy, France, and Spain, RSPB members downplayed the risk that wind farms represent for the survival of the Red Kite in Europe. Whereas a German government-funded study recommends a setback of 1 to 2 km between wind turbines and red kites’ nests and roosting places (my own recommendation is 3 km), an ornithologist from the RSPB argued that at the Braes of . . .

  • Renewable energy projects threaten some of California’s rarest plants

    Updated: 2009-10-18 11:49:06
    The proposed construction of massive wind and solar energy projects on public land in the California desert would hasten destruction and further fragment land that is home to 17% of state’s rarest plants, botanists said Saturday. “Most of the solar and wind projects currently under review are in the wrong places,” said Greg Suba, conservation program director for the California Native Plant Society. He and other experts spoke at Cal State Fullerton for the Southern California Botanists’ 35th annual symposium. “We believe . . .

  • My faith in green technology is blowing in the wind

    Updated: 2009-10-18 11:46:02
    There’s a farmer in Northumberland County, east of Oshawa, who wants to build a house for his daughter on his farm, but he can’t because he’s on the heavily protected Oak Ridges Moraine. But it’s OK to lease his land to a company that will put up multiple wind turbines and turn his property into a wind farm. And they’ll pay him five figures a year to do it. That’s just one of many contradictions emerging as wind project proposals multiply . . .

  • Sidney’s wind prospector

    Updated: 2009-10-18 11:40:59
    A modern gold rush is unfolding in the Peace River country of northeast B.C. with a small Sidney company staking billions in claims. The treasure is wind, enough to generate as much electricity as B.C. Hydro currently produces, says entrepreneur Juergen Puetter. The founder of Aeolis Wind Power Corp. and Blue Fuel Energy has spent the last six years “prospecting” by light plane and helicopter for wind across the province. He is convinced he has found the motherlode in the foothills . . .

  • General Electric looks to build £200m wind farm plant in UK

    Updated: 2009-10-18 11:35:20
    A GE briefing note seen by The Sunday Telegraph says that the firm is now looking for “targeted financial support for the development” and is in discussions with the Department of Business, Innovations and Skills and the Department for Energy and Climate Change. It is also considering sites in Germany and Scandinavia, and will make a decision on where to build the new plant by the end of the year. GE officials have also met Greg Barker, shadow climate change minister, . . .

  • Eden council approves wind test mast near Lazonby

    Updated: 2009-10-18 11:32:05
    A wind monitoring mast is to be installed near Lazonby ahead of plans by energy giant E.on to build five new wind turbines. Eden council’s planning committee this week approved plans for the 60-metre monitoring mast to be built on Scratchmere Scar Farm near the village, which the company will use to check the land’s suitability for a windfarm. However, objector John Nicol, speaking at the meeting, described the mast as ‘monstrous’, and warned that it could lead to ‘the rape of . . .

  • Citizens hold fast to turbine complaint

    Updated: 2009-10-17 12:02:54
    DeKALB – Even though some of 151 wind turbines planned for DeKalb and Lee counties have already been built, citizens who oppose the project are confident they can still halt construction. “If we indeed prevail, and in our opinion, we will … they will be stopped from ever turning (the turbines) on and will be asked to remove them,” said Rick Porter, attorney for a 39-person group known as the Citizens for Open Government. On July 21, the group filed a lawsuit . . .

  • Details released on road dispute

    Updated: 2009-10-17 12:00:05
    PRINCETON — An attorney representing the Bureau County Board has released details of a dispute over a road agreement the county claims a wind farm company has failed to honor. Earlier this week, the county board voted to take legal action, in an apparent attempt to force Iberdrola Renewables Inc. to agree to assessed road damage linked to the company’s work on Providence Heights wind farm in rural Tiskilwa. The dispute revolves around damage to stretches . . .

  • Wind turbine dealer misses restitution deadline

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:57:50
    Former state Rep. Mark Howland, owner of a Freetown-based wind turbine company that was shut down for misleading consumers, has failed to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution to the state Attorney General’s Office. A consent agreement reached last October set a deadline of Oct. 9, 2009, for Howland of WindTech-Co. to pay $488,000 in restitution. Howland notified the agency on Oct. 8 that he would not be making the payment, said Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Jill Butterworth. According to the agreement, Howland . . .

  • Kibby wind power starts up; expansion plans announced

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:55:54
    KIBBY TOWNSHIP – Under the whisper of a whirling 410-foot wind turbine, 250 people stood at the top of Kibby Mountain today to help celebrate the start-up of half of TransCanada’s $320 million Kibby Wind Power Project and, somewhat unexpectedly, hear plans for the expansion of Kibby’s 44-windmill project by adding 15 more on nearby Sisk Mountain. The proposed $100 million expansion project on Sisk Mountain would be located just west of the Kibby range and mountain project. According to plans, . . .

  • Wind proposal coming back

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:54:03
    NORTH ATTLEBORO — Businessman Michael Bedard isn’t just blowing hot air about wind turbines. Bedard, who proposed in June building a wind turbine at the World War I Memorial Park, says he has spent almost 1,000 hours reading up on wind turbines and observing construction of the structures in Princeton to gain knowledge critical to the success of the project. “I’ve been watching and learning. You can look at it on paper and look at it on paper, but there’s no substitute . . .

  • Wind farms will hurt tourism

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:53:09
    Regarding The Charlotte Observer editorial “Duke not shooting the breeze” reprinted in the Oct. 3 Fayetteville Observer, lauding Duke Power’s proposal to test “tall wind turbines in Pamlico Sound as early as next year”: Before North Carolinians jump on this trendy “green” bandwagon, I implore them to consider the negative effect this and larger projects would have on our landscape. Do we really want our coastal waters and mountain ridge lines to look like industrial sites in exchange for wind power’s . . .

  • With little precedent, cost of wind power up in the air

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:06:52
    PROVIDENCE — The main point of contention in the contract talks between National Grid and Deepwater Wind is the price of electricity generated by the proposed wind farm off Block Island. Deepwater has quoted a price of between 20 and 25 cents per kilowatt-hour. National Grid has calculated the cost, with adjustments over time, to be closer to 30.7 cents per kilowatt hour. Either price is much higher than the 9.2 cents per kilowatt-hour that National Grid pays for power mainly . . .

  • National Grid rejects power offer from Deepwater Wind

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:06:15
    PROVIDENCE — Plans to build the first offshore wind farm in Rhode Island have suffered a setback after the developer failed to reach an agreement to sell electricity to the state’s largest electric utility. National Grid this week rejected a proposal to purchase energy from a small wind farm that Deepwater Wind plans to build off Block Island. In documents filed with the state Public Utilities Commission Thursday, National Grid says that negotiations with Deepwater have so far failed to yield . . .

  • Nice and sleazy does it . . .

    Updated: 2009-10-17 11:02:45
    Spain, meanwhile, is in the grip of “eco-corruption” scandals. Officials in the town of La Muela have been arrested, charged with demanding backhanders to allow the building of wind farms. Townsfolk were allegedly sent on holidays to Brazil, Mexico and the Caribbean as bribes for their complicity. Elsewhere, officials have been sacked and arrested for giving licences for setting up solar-power gardens to relatives, and selling them under the counter to cowboy operators. When inspectors checked 30 solar gardens, only . . .

  • Wind goes out of debate – for now

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:59:55
    Manawatu can take a breather; the pause button has been pushed on one of the area’s most significant and contentious projects. GRANT MILLER reviews the Turitea wind farm debate. Graceful or ugly? Noisy or necessary? The environmental sustainability movement’s best friend or a threat to Palmerston North’s drinking water supply? Wind turbines – a point of interest on the landscape or visual pollution? Mighty River Power’s proposal to build a wind farm about 10 kilometres southeast of The Square in Palmerston North has been . . .

  • Bingham wind farms ordinance

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:56:56
    BLACKFOOT — Bingham County Commission Chairman Cleone Jolley said a public hearing held at Shelley City Hall Thursday was aimed at disseminating information and collecting public input related to a proposed new ordinance regulating siting of wind turbines. Jolley said the proposed ordinance also regulates future construction of wind farms in the county. Currently, Bingham County has no ordinance pertaining to the new energy technology. The proposed ordinance would require set-backs of one half-mile from any inhabited structure and 1. 5 miles from . . .

  • Wind farm segment could come to Clay County

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:54:41
    Representatives with renewable energy company NextEra are in discussions with county leaders to bring a major wind farm to northwest Iowa. Spokesman Steve Stengel said the company hopes to locate 167 wind turbines in the region. Under the current proposal, turbine placement would be equally distributed on Clay, Dickinson and Osceola County properties. “We were in Dickinson County last week talking to the board of supervisors,” Stengel said. “What we told them last week was that we would like to be in . . .

  • Northern Jasper County land being eyed as wind farm site

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:52:08
    Land in northern Jasper County near a site once eyed for a landfill now is being evaluated as a possible wind farm location. Representatives of Iberdrola Renewables met Thursday at Carthage Memorial Hall with about 200 landowners about potential property leases. “We are looking at Jasper County and meeting with interested landowners,” said Paul Copleman, communications manager with the company. “But, it’s very early in the process.” Mark Russell, who owns land north of Purcell, said he attended the session and that company . . .

  • FAA reverses approval of some turbines

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:49:58
    In a reversal of an earlier decision, the Federal Aviation Administration has declared that the majority of wind turbines proposed on the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod would pose an air navigation hazard, effectively scaling back the once-ambitious proposal to use alternative energy to power the military base. A week after initially approving eight of the 17 wind turbines proposed by the Massachusetts Army National Guard, the FAA reversed its decision this past week and declared that five more of . . .

  • Turbine wind farm on the horizon

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:45:52
    As the nation moves to find more energy efficient ways to use resources, surrounding counties are deciding if a 100-turbine wind farm would be a step in the right direction. Winnebago County currently doesn’t have an ordinance allowing or restricting the use of wind farms. A proposal by Navitas Energy Corp. was submitted in April and is the first wind farm plan to go before the northern Illinois county board. Andrew Evans, of Navitas Energy Corp., said the company has been exploring a . . .

  • Tesco will consider its own windfarm to meet zero-carbon ambition

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:43:00
    Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, will consider building its own windfarm to meet a new target of becoming a zero-carbon business by 2050. Tesco, which generates more than 70pc of its carbon emissions from the refrigeration, lighting and heating required for its 2,100 stores in the UK, plans to meet the target by producing its own renewable energy. Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco’s chief executive, told The Daily Telegraph in an interview that “mass consumption is a high carbon activity and we’ll have . . .

  • Carcieri urges talks on offshore wind to resume

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:40:58
    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Carcieri administration is urging National Grid and Deepwater Wind to resume negotiations over an agreement for the utility to buy electricity from a wind farm proposed off Block Island. In a filing with the state Public Utilities Commission late Thursday, National Grid rejected Deepwater’s proposal to sell green energy to the power grid, saying that the price would be three times the cost of electricity generated from fossil fuels and other sources. On Friday, Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for . . .

  • Rumors fly about offline wind turbines

    Updated: 2009-10-17 10:38:40
    BROWNSVILLE — As the blades of the 86 turbines on the Forward Wind Energy Center remain still, rumors have been circulating faster than the wind as to why the wind farm has been offline since Sept. 29. Invenergy LLC officials attributed the shutdown to scheduled maintenance of the wind farm’s substation. However, the latest buzz that a major utility pulled out of its power purchase contract and has left Invenergy without a new customer to fill the void simply isn’t true, . . .

  • Turbine proposal prompts concern by CareFlight pilot, OSP commander

    Updated: 2009-10-16 21:55:44
    In addition to local residents, emergency first responders are considering how the proposal to site 70 wind turbines in Champaign County will impact them. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued notices of presumed hazard to navigable airspace for 38 of the proposed sites, noting their potential negative impact on Grimes Field, where a CareFlight hangar is located, and the privately-owned Weller Airport, which was used for a helicopter landing and takeoff to transport a crash victim on Oct. 6. (See graphic . . .

  • Wind farm plan may set precedent for metro area

    Updated: 2009-10-16 21:55:31
    Neighbors ask for limits to multiple turbines near homes Decisions made regarding the 11-megawatt Greenvale Township Wind Farm proposal could set precedent for siting multiple turbines near homes in the metro area, say neighbors who are asking that groups of turbines have a mile-long setback from homes. Greenvale Wind Farm initially was proposed to include 11 turbines located within an 837-acre area south of 280th Street West in Greenvale Township, 10 minutes south of Lakeville. But after residents voiced concerns, the plan . . .

  • Burbo Bank wind farm off Wirral shore out of action for four weeks after cabling failure

    Updated: 2009-10-16 21:55:05
    A massive wind farm off the coast of Wirral was out of action for four weeks after a problem with onshore cabling, the Globe can reveal. A joint in an underground cable connecting to the Burbo Bank farm “failed” and it took engineers four weeks to first locate the breach, excavate down to it and then carry out repairs. Globe reader Colette Dunkley contacted the Danish wind farm owners, Dong Energy, after noticing that all 25 of the giant turbines in the . . .

  • Update: Horizon suspends Perry wind project

    Updated: 2009-10-16 21:54:28
    PERRY — Horizon Wind Energy has put its plans for a commercial windmill farm in Perry on hold, Town Supervisor Jim Brick said this morning. Brick said he wasn’t sure why. “They didn’t come right out and say specifically,” he said. Horizon and the town were at the point of completing the state-mandated environmental survey for the project. Finishing the State Environmental Quality Review would have cost Horizon about $100,000, to cover the cost of the company and town’s consultants, Brick said. Horizon decided . . .

  • Turbine action group vows strong protests

    Updated: 2009-10-16 21:54:06
    A newly formed action group says it is preparing to unleash a powerful protest against a proposal to build two wind farms near a popular beauty spot. Banks Developments, which is based in Tow Law, wants to build up to nine turbines farm on farmland between the village of Woodland and Hamsterley Forest. The development would sit alongside another wind farm proposed by Arcus Renewable Energy, which wants to build another four 115-metre turbines at the site. It brings the total number of . . .

  • Wind and Tourism

    Updated: 2009-10-15 04:32:11
    Many people in my community depend on tourism for their livelihood. So naturally, opponents of wind energy like to claim that a wind farm will drive tourists away. But is this really true? The Prince Edward Island Energy Corp installed a wind farm at North Cape in 2004. North Cape is about as [...]

  • The Big Picture

    Updated: 2009-10-08 15:19:17
    Wind power cannot be considered in isolation from other sources of power. It is not a question wind, or no wind. It is a question of wind, or something else. And the relative impacts of the various alternative sources of power is an important consideration. In 2007, Ontario produced 52% of its electricity [...]

  • Dublin Bikes

    Updated: 2009-10-06 23:49:19
    I signed up the other day for the new dublin bikes service. Generally its a very good service. Pay €10 annualfee and you can use bikes to cycle around the city centre. My Comments however 1. More please. I have seen manyempty stations already. That would reck my head if I went to get one, and the [...]

  • Top Field Guides for September

    Updated: 2009-10-01 16:10:34
    : National association of realtors® Home Library InfoCentral Blog Youth Magnet Cities Main Top Field Guides for September The list of the 10 most used Information Central Field Guides for September 2009 was released today . They : are 1. Field Guide to Short Sales 2. Field Guide to Preparing Staging a House for Sale 5. Field Guide to Quick Real Estate Statistics 6. Field Guide to Do-Not-Call , Do-Not-Fax , and Do-Not-E-Mail Laws 3. Field Guide to Opening a Real Estate Brokerage 4. Field Guide to 1031 Exchanges 7. Field Guide to Errors Omissions Insurance 9. Field Guide to Buying vs . Renting 8. Field Guide to Foreclosures 10. Field Guide to REALTOR® Safety Posted by Dave Shumaker on October 1, 2009 09:10 AM Permanent Link Add a comment If you haven't left a comment here before , you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear . Until then , it won't appear on the entry . Thanks for waiting . : Name Email : Address : URL Remember personal info Comments : you may use HTML tags for style About This Blog The InfoCentral Blog , from NAR's Information Central , provides information on research studies , Web sites , books , news , tips , and other resources

  • Letter from Wind Landowner

    Updated: 2009-10-01 01:39:20
    Doug and Tracy Rogers are landowners on a 6 turbine wind farm my firm owns on southern Lake Huron. They also own a cottage on the Bruce Peninsula, and have watched the discussions about wind in the Bruce Peninsula Press with some puzzlement. After all, they live near wind turbines, and are quite [...]

  • Efficiency of Wind Turbines

    Updated: 2009-09-27 19:08:41
    Some of the anti wind materials try to describe wind turbines as “inefficient”, or claim that wind turbines only produce power 1/3 of the time. Let’s examine the merits of these claims, by understanding what efficiency means with respect to energy, and also what capacity factor is. A definition I found that is a good [...]

  • Field Guide to Social Networking for REALTORS®

    Updated: 2009-09-18 22:47:21
    : National association of realtors® Home Library InfoCentral Blog Field Guide to Choosing Using a Smart Phone Main Youth Magnet Cities Field Guide to Social Networking for REALTORS® Everyone seems to have a Facebook page . As of September 2009, Facebook reports over 300 million monthly active users around the world . And it's just not for the college set anymore . Earlier this year the website Inside Facebook announced that the fastest growing demographic group on Facebook is women over 55 and that 45 of Facebook’s US audience is now 26 years old or older . But there's more to social networking than Facebook . There's LinkedIn for networking and Active Rain for those in the industry . So how are you using social networking Check out our updated Field Guide to Social Networking for REALTORS® to learn about social networking , to see how other real estate agents have embraced it to increase their presence on the Internet to attract more clients , and to learn about the variety of social networking websites you might want to . join Posted by Dave Shumaker on September 18, 2009 03:47 PM Permanent Link Add a comment If you haven't left a comment here before , you may need to be approved

  • Wind Reduces Carbon Dioxide Emissions

    Updated: 2009-09-17 18:57:22
    Recent ads in the Peninsula Press by the anti wind crowd repeatedly state that wind energy does not reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Does this statement make any sense at all? After all, when wind turbines are producing power, then there is no need to produce that power from other sources. Do we [...]

  • Quick Real Estate Statistics

    Updated: 2009-09-16 21:11:43
    Looking for quick statistics for your sales meeting or a customer brochure? Need a quick fact to make your point? Information Central has compiled some of the most requested statistics for quick and easy access in its newly updated Field Guide to Quick Real Estate Statistics. Find the information that you need, as well as its source, including member stats, FSBOs, Home Buyer info, and technology.

  • Field Guide to Twitter

    Updated: 2009-09-15 21:06:13
    Twitter is a way of sending short bits of information to your subscribers. The messages are limited to 140 character at a time, called a Tweet. Let your clients know what you are doing for them, post short descriptions of new listings, keep your team on schedule. Learn more at our newly updated Field Guide to Twitter (and be sure to follow NAR Info Central on Twitter!).

  • Half the Story

    Updated: 2009-09-15 15:20:03
    Sometimes presenting half the story confuses and agitates readers. The latest ad in the Peninsula Press is designed to do just that. It is like telling the story of the Ugly Duckling, without the tranformation into a swan. The paid adverstisement speaks of a proposal to develop transmission facilities on the Bruce Peninsula to [...]

  • Field Guide to REALTOR® Safety

    Updated: 2009-09-14 21:34:27
    You meet lots of people in the real estate business - some nice and some not so nice. It's REALTOR® Safety Week (Sept. 13 - 19, 2009) and it is more important than ever to protect yourself. Learn how to protect yourself at open houses and in the car in our timely Field Guide to REALTOR® Safety. Get safety tips, handouts and posters from The National Association of REALTORS® and REALTOR® Associations.

  • Misinformation on Property Taxes

    Updated: 2009-09-07 15:33:57
    A flyer handed out at the recent meeting in Lion’s Head had the statement: “The McGuinty government has limited the tax payment to less than $500 per year on each $3 million wind turbine.” Really? Then how come my tax bill is over $3000 per turbine in Northern Bruce Peninsula? Where [...]

  • Decommissioning Wind vs. Storing Nuclear Waste

    Updated: 2009-09-05 01:37:17
    At the recent meeting in Lion’s Head that had presentations from anti wind speakers, a question came from the audience about nuclear waste. The point was made that wind turbines can be taken down at the end of their lives, unlike nuclear plants, whose waste has to be stored. It was a good [...]

  • Misinformation Meeting

    Updated: 2009-09-03 04:43:44
    My last blog entry here was on December 10th 2008. My older brother, Mark, died of non-smokers lung cancer on December 16. I haven’t blogged since. Losing a brother in a close family knocked us all very hard. It takes away your energy. It makes you reluctant to engage in unpleasant [...]

  • Top 10 Field Guides for August 2009

    Updated: 2009-09-01 07:44:59
    : National association of realtors® Home Library InfoCentral Blog Field Guide to Working with FSBOs Main Field Guide to REALTOR® Safety Top 10 Field Guides for August 2009 The list of the 10 most used Information Central Field Guides for August 2009 was released today . They : are 1. Field Guide to Short Sales 2. Field Guide to Preparing Staging a House for Sale 3. Field Guide to Opening a Real Estate Brokerage 4. Field Guide to 1031 Exchanges 5. Field Guide to Quick Real Estate Statistics 6. Field Guide to Do-Not-Call , Do-Not-Fax , and Do-Not-E-Mail Laws 7. Field Guide to Errors Omissions Insurance 8. Field Guide to Foreclosures 9. Field Guide to Buying vs . Renting 10. Field Guide to Real Estate Office Policy Manuals Posted by Dave Shumaker on September 1, 2009 12:44 PM Permanent Link Add a comment If you haven't left a comment here before , you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear . Until then , it won't appear on the entry . Thanks for waiting . : Name Email : Address : URL Remember personal info Comments : you may use HTML tags for style About This Blog The InfoCentral Blog , from NAR's Information Central , provides information on

  • Field Guide to Working with FSBOs

    Updated: 2009-08-21 20:59:34
    Home sellers must eventually decide whether to hire a REALTOR® or to sell their home on their own. But even after they decide to go solo, FSBOs can still be convinced to use a REALTOR®'s expertise. In this updated Field Guide you'll find dozens of articles, books, videos, studies, statistics and Web sites to help you find out who FSBOs are and how to work with them.

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