News & Articles on Wind Energy
This is an archive of articles and news on both large and small wind turbines, wind energy & the environment, and links to topics on the history of wind energy.
I’ve been working with wind energy since 1976 and my professional experience in the subject runs the gamut from wind resource assessment to installing and testing small wind turbines. I continue to follow the industry and analyze its growth and increasing contribution to renewable electricity generation worldwide.
For newcomers to wind energy I’ve added pages from my previous books explaining terms used in the industry.
- 200 Term Multilingual Lexicon: The lexicon translates English terms into five different languages: Dansk, Deutsch, Español, Français, and Italiano.
- Glossary of Wind Energy Terminology: The glossary was written by Paul Gipe and Bill Canter in the late-1990s. I’ve added the glossary to my web site for both its historical content—many of the terms were in use during the 1980s and 1990s—and as a reference for the thousands of newcomers to the wind industry since it was first published.
Mike Barnard: Want to save 70 million birds a year? Build more wind farms
By
Wind turbines are often criticised for killing birds. Fights against siting wind turbines in bird migration corridors or in bird habitat are frequent. Highly inflammatory language is used by anti-wind lobbyists such as ‘bird mincer’, ‘bird blender’ and ‘eagle killers’. Outlandish numbers of deaths are often attributed to them. . .
Wind Mortality Statistics Needs Updates
By
Paul Gipe
Note that the article below is out of date. See the most current database for the number of fatal accidents in the wind industry. Below is a summary table from the spreadsheet. Note that there are four other tabs not reproduced here.
Renewables International: The “softening effect” of wind and solar on Grid Integration
By
Bernard Chabot
French expert Bernard Chabot explains another benefit from a balanced mix of wind and solar: their combined daily maximum outputs are lower than the addition of their installed capacity, allowing for a lower maximum carrying capability for electrical systems designed for the large penetration of renewables. Specifically, Germany’s targets turnout to be in line with maximum power demand. . .
Damian Carrington: Why there’s only one honest objection to wind farms
By
The daft claim that wind subsidies have driven 50,000 people into fuel poverty exemplifies the dishonesty of most objections . . .
The Independent: Wind farms ‘have major economic benefit’
By
Onshore wind farms, recently under attack from leading conservationists for damaging the countryside, can bring significant economic benefits locally and nationally, as well as contributing to the fight against climate change, a new study claims. . .
