“My Lords, is it not extraordinary that we should at this stage be introducing a unilateral, unconditional requirement on this country to reduce carbon dioxide emissions when no other country is committing to do the same, to the degree of 80 per cent, even though we account only for the insignificant amount of 1.5 to 1.7 per cent of total emissions? In pursuit of this absurd and masochistic policy for this country, has the Minister’s department made an estimate, as it should have done, of how big an increase in …

The UK is seeing a growth in the development of wind power generation as the Government seeks to meet EU renewable energy targets. Wind energy developments can often have a significant impact on the appearance of the landscape. For this and other reasons they are often highly controversial in the local areas where they are proposed. This briefing sets out the findings of CPRE’s investigation of a growing number of cases where developers of new wind farms are offering various forms of payments and benefits directly to local communities, as …

About a fifth of the electricity produced annually in Denmark is generated by wind. Of this, just over a half can be used directly within national borders over the year. The rest must be exported (often at much reduced prices) to preserve the integrity of domestic grids.
The need to backup the variable supply of wind power with electricity from combined heat and power plants for internal use, and the necessity to export large surpluses of wind power, mean that domestic savings in carbon emissions are relatively small at the present time.
Investigations …

The available evidence suggests that wind farms can harm birds in three possible ways – disturbance, habitat loss or damage (both direct or indirect), and collision. Poorly sited wind farms have caused some major bird casualties, particularly in Tarifa and Navarra in Spain, and the Altamont Pass in California. At these sites, planners failed to consider adequately the likely impact of putting hundreds, or even thousands, of turbines in areas that are important for birds of prey. Tragically, killing many hundreds of birds as a result.
If wind farms are located …

Fears over the health of his pregnant partner and unborn child is forcing a man to demand a wind turbine standing a stone’s throw from his family’s home is removed.

Andrew Randall lives in King’s Dyke, Whittlesey, with his pregnant partner Rachel Barford and one-year-old daughter Aimee, just 100 yards from the towering machine.