A Safe Space For Bats New tehcnology reduces bat take at wind farms. Globally, bat populations are in decline. According to Bat Conservation International, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has deemed 22 bat species as “critically endangered,” meaning they face an imminent risk of extinction. Fifty-six other bat species are endangered…
February 2019 Issue: Take Two: Repowering Gives Aging Wind Farms A Second Act
The case for cleaner airports starts with renewables SURPRISINGLY, weather was blameless when a blackout delayed more than 1,000 passengers in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in December 2017. A fire — later traced to a failed switchgear — was the culprit, knocking out the airport’s electricity for some 11 hours that day. The airport’s primary…
The 2019 Renewable Energy Guidebook
THE RISE OF WIND POWER “GREAT THINGS NEVER CAME FROM COMFORT ZONES,” stated a recent advertisement in a community newspaper. The statement could have referred to the wind-power industry. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently released its 2018 third-quarter report, noting that seven states are near doubling their capacity to generate electricity from the…
August 2018 Issue: New national standards to prevent dropped objects
Wind worth harvesting A big sign propped up at the entrance of my local farmers’ market read: If you ate today, thank a farmer. My dad grew up on a farm in the Canadian prairies, so this is wise advice to me. He’s shared plenty of stories about farming life, and the hard work and…
June 2018 Issue: Windpower, conservationists making wind farms safer for wildlife
What bugs me about conferences and other wind-industry annoyances As I approach my ninth year reporting on the wind industry, it becomes necessary to point out several things that bug me. Most of these observations are in the friendly spirit of self-improvement and they pertain as much to the industry as to things that surround…
April 2018 Issue: Wind makes a good neighbor
Wind makes a good neighbor Last year, my good friend Anna spent the summer in a small, rural Ontario Airbnb. She was unaware when booking the home that it was near a wind farm, and was concerned initially about noise and shadow flicker. Neither affected her and it turned out that she loved seeing the…
February 2018 Issue: Leadership in Wind Energy
How EVs will drive the wind industry and vice versa The automobile, long the symbol of go-anywhere freedom, not long ago became an object of scorn because of its high consumption of fossil fuel. Is it possible to redeem vehicles from such disrepute by substituting electric drives for internal combustion engines? Yes, it is. The…
August 2017 Issue: Three Strikes and Your Turbine Is Out (And More!)
Welcome to the 5,000-MW Club, Kansas There’s a new club in town, and another U.S. state has recently joined. The “5,000-Megawatt Club” has an exclusive membership of only five states so far. For entry, each one must officially exceed 5,000 MW of wind-generated capacity. The most recent honor goes to Kansas, which grabbed…