"Renewable energy public consult set for Dec 18 at ABCC, (Cornwallis Park Conf. centre)
For the very helpful background study papers presented by the consulting team from Dalhousie University ON THE ECON., ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF FOUR SPECIFIC ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SCENARIOS FOR NOVA SCOTIA, GO TO:
http://eco-efficiency.management.dal.ca/Events/Special_Events/
Renewable Energy Community Consultation Meeting
When:
18 Dec 09 12.00 PM - 02.00 PM
Where:
ABCC James Horsfall Hall - Cornwallis
Description
Venue: Annapolis Basin Conference Centre, James Hortsfall Memorial Hall, 761 Broadway Avenue, Cornwallis Park
Date/Time: Friday, December 18, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
As seating is limited, all interested parties are asked to RSVP for this session. A light lunch will be provided. To RSVP, simply click here This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call Dalhousie University's Eco-Efficiency Centre at (902) 461-6704.
The province of Nova Scotia has committed to providing 25 percent of the province's electricity with renewable energy by the year 2015. In partnership with the Department of Energy, a consulting team from Dalhousie University has been facilitating public multidisciplinary consultation sessions over the past four months. Additional community meetings, including this one, were proposed as a result of stakeholder feedback from previous consultation sessions.
Nova Scotia has committed to providing 25 percent of the province's electricity with renewable energy by the year 2015. To that end, a series of public consultations will be held in communities throughout the province, including one at Annapolis Basin Conference Centre on December 18, to specifically address concerns in the Annapolis Digby region.
In partnership with the Department of Energy, a consulting team from Dalhousie University, lead by Dr. David Wheeler, has been facilitating public multidisciplinary consultation sessions over the past four months. These sessions are being used to evaluate various renewable energy scenarios, considering the social, environmental, technological, and economic aspects of each option. This independent stakeholder consultation process will thoroughly assess options for investments in low-carbon energy production and distribution in Nova Scotia.
A series of four smaller public meetings will be held in Cornwallis, Yarmouth, Port Hawkesbury and Sydney. These additional meetings were proposed as a result of stakeholder feedback from previous consultation sessions. At each session, team lead, Dr. David Wheeler, and project director, Dr. Michelle Adams, will briefly review key recommendations that will make up the draft final integrated scenario report. The Project Team will then invite feedback from session participants to incorporate into their final report. The final report with recommendations will be written and submitted to the provincial Department of Energy.
Click here for details on the Annapolis Digby public meeting to be held at ABCC. For further information on the renewable energy consultation process, including all documents that have been prepared to date, click here.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Are Landscapes and Park-like Areas Important?
From The Star
Wind turbines plan
Published Date: 16 December 2009
RESIDENTS who campaigned for 18 months to stop a controversial wind farm being built between Stocksbridge and Penistone are celebrating after councillors threw out the scheme.
Members of Barnsley Council's planning board decided 12 votes to eight to refuse planning permission for five 125-metre wind turbines at Sheephouse Heights, overlooking the Langsett Valley.
Environmental activists staging a demonstration outside arnsley Town Hall said the turbines, which developers say could provide electricity for 9,000 homes, are needed as a green alternative to burning carbon.
They were supported by more than 1,000 people who wrote to the council in favour of the scheme, many who argued an estimated 25,000-tonne reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is more important than the visual impact.
The green activists were supported by Friends of the Earth, Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change, Sheffield Green Party Coun Jillian Creasy and the GMB union.
But councillors decided in favour of the 1,350 residents who said the scheme would be a blot on the landscape and would have a negative effect on the nearby Peak District National Park.
After hearing from developers Evelop UK, and from the Protect Sheephouse Heights Group, board members voted to abide by planning officers' recommendation that Sheephouse is the wrong site for the scheme.
Speaking afterwards Alan Hey, of the Protect Sheephouse Heights Group, said: "We are very pleased, and think the council made the right decision. This has been a controversial project from day one.
"This is the right decision for the community, and we think the true friends of Penistone and Stocksbridge won the day. The nucleus of our group is made up of people who live very close to the site, some of them just 300m away, and this development would have severely damaged
their amenity."
Stocksbridge MP Angela Smith said: "Given the strengths of the grounds for refusal I hope that the developers will desist from going to appeal or revising the application and hope they now drop the plan."
Stephen Brooks, of Sheffield-based Evelop UK, said Sheephouse would be the ideal location for a wind farm.
He said: "We are very disappointed that the scheme was turned down. We thought that it was a very well thought-out proposal with a number of
environmental, financial and social benefits for the area.
"We are now going to wait until we get the formal reasons for refusal from Barnsley Council, and decide where we are going to go from there."
Olly Buck, project manager for Evelop UK, said: "We are obviously disappointed with the decision.
"We think it is a well thought-out project that would have generated enough electricity for more than 9,000 homes. It could have also played its part in tackling climate change and helping towards a home-grown energy supply.
"We now need to study the planning committee's decision in detail and decide our next steps."
Rachel Gibbons, from Penistone Friends of the Earth, said: "The UK has committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. A very important part of this is a renewed push for clean, green renewable energy."
Wind turbines plan
Published Date: 16 December 2009
RESIDENTS who campaigned for 18 months to stop a controversial wind farm being built between Stocksbridge and Penistone are celebrating after councillors threw out the scheme.
Members of Barnsley Council's planning board decided 12 votes to eight to refuse planning permission for five 125-metre wind turbines at Sheephouse Heights, overlooking the Langsett Valley.
Environmental activists staging a demonstration outside arnsley Town Hall said the turbines, which developers say could provide electricity for 9,000 homes, are needed as a green alternative to burning carbon.
They were supported by more than 1,000 people who wrote to the council in favour of the scheme, many who argued an estimated 25,000-tonne reduction of carbon dioxide emissions is more important than the visual impact.
The green activists were supported by Friends of the Earth, Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change, Sheffield Green Party Coun Jillian Creasy and the GMB union.
But councillors decided in favour of the 1,350 residents who said the scheme would be a blot on the landscape and would have a negative effect on the nearby Peak District National Park.
After hearing from developers Evelop UK, and from the Protect Sheephouse Heights Group, board members voted to abide by planning officers' recommendation that Sheephouse is the wrong site for the scheme.
Speaking afterwards Alan Hey, of the Protect Sheephouse Heights Group, said: "We are very pleased, and think the council made the right decision. This has been a controversial project from day one.
"This is the right decision for the community, and we think the true friends of Penistone and Stocksbridge won the day. The nucleus of our group is made up of people who live very close to the site, some of them just 300m away, and this development would have severely damaged
their amenity."
Stocksbridge MP Angela Smith said: "Given the strengths of the grounds for refusal I hope that the developers will desist from going to appeal or revising the application and hope they now drop the plan."
Stephen Brooks, of Sheffield-based Evelop UK, said Sheephouse would be the ideal location for a wind farm.
He said: "We are very disappointed that the scheme was turned down. We thought that it was a very well thought-out proposal with a number of
environmental, financial and social benefits for the area.
"We are now going to wait until we get the formal reasons for refusal from Barnsley Council, and decide where we are going to go from there."
Olly Buck, project manager for Evelop UK, said: "We are obviously disappointed with the decision.
"We think it is a well thought-out project that would have generated enough electricity for more than 9,000 homes. It could have also played its part in tackling climate change and helping towards a home-grown energy supply.
"We now need to study the planning committee's decision in detail and decide our next steps."
Rachel Gibbons, from Penistone Friends of the Earth, said: "The UK has committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. A very important part of this is a renewed push for clean, green renewable energy."
It's About Siting and Local Involvement
From wbay.com
Grassroots Effort Shares Experiences with Wind Farms
Updated: Dec 17, 2009 12:45 AM
Featured Videos
Wind Farm Meeting
By Matt Smith
As Governor Jim Doyle continues his push to achieve what he calls energy independence, a big part of that could come from wind power and new wind farms across the state.
Fond du Lac County has somewhat become the poster child for the cause -- a new wave of energy sweeping through Wisconsin.
"We have no issue with wind turbines per se, but we have a big issue with how they're currently being sited in parts of Wisconsin," Ron Dietrich of the Calumet County Citizens for Responsible Energy said.
A grassroots effort which started several years ago in Calumet County is sharing its story with neighbors, trying to inform them about their experience with wind farms and their impact.
"We're not talking so much the people placing the turbines on their property. It's surrounding residence who don't have turbines on their property could suffer 25 to 40 percent loss of their property value," Diedrich said.
Former state senator Bob Welch is a consultant for the group.
"This is a cause that is really about local control and about community involvement in their destiny, and it's about property rights, it's about what our best choices are for energy," said Welch, of The Welch Group.
One of the latest proposals making its way through the state's Public Service Commission centers in southern Brown County. If approved, the project would erect about 100 turbines throughout Wrightstown, Morrison, Hollandtown, and Glenmore, generating about 150 megawatts.
It's proposals like this that bring out residents and questions.
"Is the agenda green? Is it for corporate? Is it a state agenda? Politics? I'm sure it's all wrapped up in there somewhere," Jason Schmechel of Wrightstown said.
"As I understand, these things have a major impact on people's personal life, and I just want to hear the pros and cons," Chris Hibbard from Hilbert said.
Any opinion is welcome here, organizers say. They just hope to start the conversation -- politics and corporations aside, just neighbor to neighbor.
Grassroots Effort Shares Experiences with Wind Farms
Updated: Dec 17, 2009 12:45 AM
Featured Videos
Wind Farm Meeting
By Matt Smith
As Governor Jim Doyle continues his push to achieve what he calls energy independence, a big part of that could come from wind power and new wind farms across the state.
Fond du Lac County has somewhat become the poster child for the cause -- a new wave of energy sweeping through Wisconsin.
"We have no issue with wind turbines per se, but we have a big issue with how they're currently being sited in parts of Wisconsin," Ron Dietrich of the Calumet County Citizens for Responsible Energy said.
A grassroots effort which started several years ago in Calumet County is sharing its story with neighbors, trying to inform them about their experience with wind farms and their impact.
"We're not talking so much the people placing the turbines on their property. It's surrounding residence who don't have turbines on their property could suffer 25 to 40 percent loss of their property value," Diedrich said.
Former state senator Bob Welch is a consultant for the group.
"This is a cause that is really about local control and about community involvement in their destiny, and it's about property rights, it's about what our best choices are for energy," said Welch, of The Welch Group.
One of the latest proposals making its way through the state's Public Service Commission centers in southern Brown County. If approved, the project would erect about 100 turbines throughout Wrightstown, Morrison, Hollandtown, and Glenmore, generating about 150 megawatts.
It's proposals like this that bring out residents and questions.
"Is the agenda green? Is it for corporate? Is it a state agenda? Politics? I'm sure it's all wrapped up in there somewhere," Jason Schmechel of Wrightstown said.
"As I understand, these things have a major impact on people's personal life, and I just want to hear the pros and cons," Chris Hibbard from Hilbert said.
Any opinion is welcome here, organizers say. They just hope to start the conversation -- politics and corporations aside, just neighbor to neighbor.
Lake Michigan Wind Farm
From the Ludington Daily News
Lake Michigan wind farm a tough sell
Kevin Braciszeski - Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
VICTORY TWP. — About 180 people packed a West Shore Community College building Tuesday night to learn about plans to turn 100 square miles of nearby Lake Michigan into a wind energy farm. Many did not like what they heard and saw, when the company revealed photos of area beaches showing simulated 300-foot-tall wind turbines towering above the waters about two to four miles from shore, including Mary Stiphany of Pentwater, who said she brought 20 e-mails to the meeting to represent 300 people who oppose the plan.
“That’s how we feel in Pentwater. They will do anything to stop it and will continue fighting it until it goes away,” Stiphany said.
Most of the comments and questions from the crowd during Tuesday’s three-hour meeting were against the proposal, although many in the crowd said “no” when someone tried to say everybody showed up to oppose the wind farm idea.
“It’s cleaner than coal,” Ren Willis-Frances said about the idea of using wind energy to replace coal-burning power plants. “It’s not just the burning, (wind power) gets us away from all the mining and carrying it.
“It’s not without its impacts, but the impacts are less,” Willis-Frances said in comparing wind energy with burning coal.
Most of Tuesday’s opposition came from people who do not want to see huge wind turbines rising about 300 feet over the Lake Michigan waves from southern Mason County to the Silver Lake State Park in Oceana County.
Several people in Tuesday’s crowd thanked Dirdal for providing the photos that show how local lake views would look if the wind towers were built.
Plans
“There is always a balance between the good sides of a project and the bad sides of a project,” Dirdal told Tuesday’s crowd while using his hands to simulate the sides of a scale.
Their plans call for construction of 100 to 200 wind turbines on the lake bottom that would stand about 300 feet over Lake Michigan’s waves. They would produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity and cover an area developers say would come within 3.7 miles of land on the northern edge, near the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, and within about two miles of shore near the southern edge, near Silver Lake State Park.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have joint jurisdiction over granting permits for offshore projects and they have not yet developed criteria for use in reviewing applications for offshore wind energy facilities. That means it may take time for them to create the criteria and have it approved by the state and federal government before the DEQ and Corps can even begin to consider looking at a proposal.
Seeking support
Harald Dirdal, a project manager with Havgul Clean Energy, and Steve Warner, CEO of Scandia Wind, are seeking local support for the project before applying for permits necessary for construction.
Warner has said implementation of the proposal may take five to 10 years and involve spending about $3 billion. He said it may be built in stages of 200 megawatts at a time. He has also said the site they chose is good because it is close to electric transmission lines flowing to and from the pumped storage plant, in an area of the lake that is not too deep and is near areas that require large amounts of electricity, such as Chicago and Milwaukee.
*Warner has also said an arrangement may be made that would provide compensation to the local governments through fixed payments, royalties or the creation of a community trust, which could provide funding to local governments in a way similar to the Manistee Revenue Sharing Board that makes payments from money received from Little River Casino Resort slot machine profits.*
“This is hopefully the first in a series of meetings,” said Warner, who is hoping to hold another meeting in mid January.
People can now share their opinions with their elected local officials.
CONCERNS
Many people asked questions Tuesday, including those about potential effects on birds, effects on boating and fishing, the potential use of lights and foghorns to warn planes and boats about the wind turbines’ locations.
Dirdal also told the crowd this is a very early stage in a process of trying to build a wind farm and said the company will pay for a feasibility study if it seems like this area of Lake Michigan is what it wants.
He guaranteed people will not be able to hear the wind towers at the beach, Dirdal said, because when the wind is strong enough to power the blades it will also be making noise and there will be wave noise.
Dean Lasley of Mason County’s Summit Township asked Dirdal why he would want the wind farm near his home.
Lake Michigan wind farm a tough sell
Kevin Braciszeski - Daily News Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
VICTORY TWP. — About 180 people packed a West Shore Community College building Tuesday night to learn about plans to turn 100 square miles of nearby Lake Michigan into a wind energy farm. Many did not like what they heard and saw, when the company revealed photos of area beaches showing simulated 300-foot-tall wind turbines towering above the waters about two to four miles from shore, including Mary Stiphany of Pentwater, who said she brought 20 e-mails to the meeting to represent 300 people who oppose the plan.
“That’s how we feel in Pentwater. They will do anything to stop it and will continue fighting it until it goes away,” Stiphany said.
Most of the comments and questions from the crowd during Tuesday’s three-hour meeting were against the proposal, although many in the crowd said “no” when someone tried to say everybody showed up to oppose the wind farm idea.
“It’s cleaner than coal,” Ren Willis-Frances said about the idea of using wind energy to replace coal-burning power plants. “It’s not just the burning, (wind power) gets us away from all the mining and carrying it.
“It’s not without its impacts, but the impacts are less,” Willis-Frances said in comparing wind energy with burning coal.
Most of Tuesday’s opposition came from people who do not want to see huge wind turbines rising about 300 feet over the Lake Michigan waves from southern Mason County to the Silver Lake State Park in Oceana County.
Several people in Tuesday’s crowd thanked Dirdal for providing the photos that show how local lake views would look if the wind towers were built.
Plans
“There is always a balance between the good sides of a project and the bad sides of a project,” Dirdal told Tuesday’s crowd while using his hands to simulate the sides of a scale.
Their plans call for construction of 100 to 200 wind turbines on the lake bottom that would stand about 300 feet over Lake Michigan’s waves. They would produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity and cover an area developers say would come within 3.7 miles of land on the northern edge, near the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant, and within about two miles of shore near the southern edge, near Silver Lake State Park.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have joint jurisdiction over granting permits for offshore projects and they have not yet developed criteria for use in reviewing applications for offshore wind energy facilities. That means it may take time for them to create the criteria and have it approved by the state and federal government before the DEQ and Corps can even begin to consider looking at a proposal.
Seeking support
Harald Dirdal, a project manager with Havgul Clean Energy, and Steve Warner, CEO of Scandia Wind, are seeking local support for the project before applying for permits necessary for construction.
Warner has said implementation of the proposal may take five to 10 years and involve spending about $3 billion. He said it may be built in stages of 200 megawatts at a time. He has also said the site they chose is good because it is close to electric transmission lines flowing to and from the pumped storage plant, in an area of the lake that is not too deep and is near areas that require large amounts of electricity, such as Chicago and Milwaukee.
*Warner has also said an arrangement may be made that would provide compensation to the local governments through fixed payments, royalties or the creation of a community trust, which could provide funding to local governments in a way similar to the Manistee Revenue Sharing Board that makes payments from money received from Little River Casino Resort slot machine profits.*
“This is hopefully the first in a series of meetings,” said Warner, who is hoping to hold another meeting in mid January.
People can now share their opinions with their elected local officials.
CONCERNS
Many people asked questions Tuesday, including those about potential effects on birds, effects on boating and fishing, the potential use of lights and foghorns to warn planes and boats about the wind turbines’ locations.
Dirdal also told the crowd this is a very early stage in a process of trying to build a wind farm and said the company will pay for a feasibility study if it seems like this area of Lake Michigan is what it wants.
He guaranteed people will not be able to hear the wind towers at the beach, Dirdal said, because when the wind is strong enough to power the blades it will also be making noise and there will be wave noise.
Dean Lasley of Mason County’s Summit Township asked Dirdal why he would want the wind farm near his home.
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