Offshore wind farms are good for wildlife, say researchers

Dutch study finds birds avoid offshore wind turbines, while marine life finds shelter and new habitats

BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 August 2011 10.49 BST

It is the evidence proponents of offshore wind farms have been waiting for: a Dutch study has found that offshore wind turbines have "hardly any negative effects" on wildlife, and may even benefit animals living beneath the waves.

The researchers reached their conclusions after studying a wind farm near Windpark Egmond aan Zee, the first large-scale offshore wind farm built off the Dutch North Sea coast.

Anti-wind farm campaigners have often argued that wind farms can have a negative impact on bird populations, while some critics have voiced concerns that offshore wind farms could prove disruptive to marine life.

However, Professor Han Lindeboom from the Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies at Wageningen University and Research centre, said that the new study revealed little evidence of negative effects on local wildlife.

"At most, a few bird species will avoid such a wind farm. It turns out that a wind farm also provides a new natural habitat for organisms living on the sea bed such as mussels, anemones and crabs, thereby contributing to increased biodiversity," he said.

"For fish and marine mammals, it provides an oasis of calm in a relatively busy coastal area."

The research, sponsored by NoordzeeWind, a joint venture of Nuon and Shell Wind Energy, claimed that offshore wind farms actually have a beneficial long-term effect on wildlife.

The wind farm functions as a new type of habitat, the report said, detailing how new species are attracted to the turbine foundations and surrounding rocks.

The researchers also noted that the turbines help to protect schools of cod, and that porpoises are heard more often inside than outside the wind farm.

Meanwhile, the survey concluded that sea bird species such as gannets tend to avoid the turbines, while seagulls appear unflustered and local cormorant numbers even increase.

"The number of birds that collided with the turbines was not determined but was estimated to be quite low on the basis of observations and model calculations," the researchers added in the article, published in online journal Environmental Research Letters.

The study noted that the effects of wind farms will inevitably vary depending on their position, but that offshore wind farms can contribute to a more diverse habitat and even help nature to recover from the effects of intensive fishing, pollution, oil and gas extraction, and shipping.

However, the report did recognise that the rotating blades can have a "disruptive impact" on some bird species, and recommends that wind farms are located in specific areas to minimise the possible impact.

Facility to convert energy from landfill waste may not go ahead

A pioneering UK gasification facility to produce energy for 50,000 homes may not go ahead owing to funding uncertainty

Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 11 August 2011 12.16 BST

A pioneering new facility to generate energy from waste – one of the biggest of its kind in the UK, according to its makers – may not go ahead, owing to uncertainty over government renewable energy subsidies.

Air Products announced on Wednesday it had received planning permission from Stockton-on-Tees borough council for its first advanced gasification facility in the UK that would convert household and commercial waste to gas, producing enough energy for 50,000 homes and diverting 300,000 tonnes of waste a year from landfill.

But the company said that, despite gaining planning permission, it would be unable to finance the plant unless the government resolves questions around future subsidies for renewable energy.

The plant joins a growing list of renewable energy projects that have been thrown into doubt as ministers continue to debate the value and extent of future subsidies for green energy.

Also on Wednesday, the government announced that Drax – which runs the UK's biggest coal-fired power station – had been granted planning permission for two biomass power plants of 299MW capacity each. But despite the planning green light, these too will be abandoned unless the government increases the amount of subsidy available, because otherwise they would not be economically viable, according to the company.

Ministers have not yet set a final date for when they will unveil new plans for renewable energy subsidies, which are paid for through consumers' energy bills.

Air Products' plan is for its first advanced gasification plant for the UK market, at the New Energy and Technology Business Park, near Billingham, Teesside with a generating capacity of 49MW. It would employ 500 to 700 people during construction with 50 permanent jobs thereafter. The company has proposed building five similar plants across the UK, investing about £1bn to build about 250MW of generating capacity.

Ian Williamson, European hydrogen and bioenergy director at Air Products, said: "We're really pleased to have secured Stockton council's approval for our first energy from waste project in the UK. Our facility will be using the latest and most advanced gasification technology to generate renewable power and at the same time, contribute towards Stockton council's environment, energy and economic investment objectives."

But the company said that in order to go ahead with the investment, it would need greater clarity on the plans for support for renewables. At present, each unit of energy from such a facility would receive two "renewable obligation certificates" ROCs, the currency of government energy subsidies. ROCs can be sold at around the unit price for electricity, or greater, and different forms of renewable energy attract higher and lower levels of ROCs, depending on how expensive they are to generate.

These concerns raised by Air Products are similar to those of Drax, which said last week it could not justify the investment required for two new biomass plants unless the amount of subsidy to biomass was raised from its current level of 0.5 ROCs per unit. Dorothy Thompson, chief executive, said the level must be raised to make burning biomass economic, and contrasted the technology with offshore wind, which is much more expensive and qualifies for 2 ROCs per unit. Thompson said biomass would require much less subsidy than offshore wind, and could provide baseload power and back up for intermittently generating wind farms.

Chris Huhne, secretary of state for energy and climate change, told the Guardian last week the decision would be finely balanced. "The key issue is setting the level of support – enough to deliver what is needed, but not too much or that becomes an unnecessary price for the end user to pay," he said.

Greg Barker, minister for energy and climate change, welcomed the proposals for the waste plant: "Energy from waste leads to considerable reductions in waste going into landfill, and makes an important contribution to the UK's low-carbon energy supply. This new technology will be an exciting addition to the energy from waste sector and I look forward to seeing the announcement of more of these projects."

Social housing tenants offered access to green heating fund

£3m fund for wood-fired boilers, solar-powered hot water systems and heat pumps expected to save money and cut emissions
Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 August 2011 11.46 BST

Social housing tenants will be able to gain access to green forms of heating, such as wood-fired boilers, solar-powered hot water systems and heat pumps, under plans unveiled by the government on Monday.


The heating should help to save households money and cut carbon dioxide emissions, and will be paid for from a £3m fund for social housing ringfenced as part of the £860m renewable heat incentive.


Greg Barker, minister of state for energy and climate change, said: "Improving and greening Britain's homes must make strong financial sense if we are to provide a real sustainable alternative to expensive old heating systems. If people choose to go green, they want to see real savings - this will drive the take up of new heating technologies in social housing and help slash their dependence on big energy companies and expensive tariffs."


The scheme is intended to cut fuel poverty – where households spend 10% or more of their household budget on heating – and to spur the development of renewable heating technologies.


Households across Britain have been badly hit by recent rises in energy bills, of 18% or more in some cases. The "big six" energy companies have blamed rising wholesale energy costs, driven by international factors including threats to supply in the Middle East and increasing demand from emerging economies.


The government has responded by calling for increased investment in renewable energy, including forms of heating and electricity generation, as well as a new fleet of gas-fired power stations ministers say is needed in order to fill the gap left by older power stations being taken out of service.


Companies supplying renewable heating technologies will be asked to apply to the government-funded Energy Saving Trust,bidding for a share of the £3m pot. The money will be allocated in early October.


About half of the UK's carbon dioxide emissions come from heating buildings, but little has been done to date to cut these emissions. The renewable heat incentive is expected to save 4.4m tonnes of carbon a year – equivalent to the output of two gas-fired power stations.


Households will also be encouraged to take up insulation, to be offered at no upfront cost from late next year under the "green deal", in the form of loans that are paid back in instalments through additions to household energy bills.


However, green thinktanks have calculated that under the current rules, the "green deal" is unlikely to work, as the interest charged on the loans will be too high to deliver sufficient savings to attract people.