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This report provides a Europe-wide resource assessment of onshore and offshore wind potential in a geographically explicit manner. In addition to calculating raw wind resource potential, this study also introduces and quantitatively analyses the environmental and social constraints on wind sector development. Concerns addressed include the noise and visual impact of wind power, as well as the deaths of birds and bats that fly into rotor blades. The report also evaluates the future costs of wind energy production across Europe in order to gauge the potential output at competitive rates.

The production of wind power varies and is harder to forecast than the fluctuations in electricity demand.

The results indicate that the frequently stated claim of wind power requiring an equal amount of reserve power for back-up is not correct. A substantial adjustment tolerance is already built in to our power network, and the impacts of wind power fluctuations can be further balanced through a variety of measures.

The impact of a large share of wind power can be controlled by appropriate grid connection requirements, extension and enforcement of transmission networks as well as integration of wind power production and production forecasts into system and market operation. The state-of-the-art report presents the assessments of the impact of wind power on the reliability and costs of the power system conducted in different countries.

My colleagues at Clean Edge have just released the Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study, making the case that solar power has the potential to reach cost parity with retail-electricity rates in most regions of the U.S. in less than a decade — but only if electric utilities step up to the plate.

Neuwing Energy Ventures, a New York-based marketer of energy-efficiency certificates, would perform an initial assessment of IBM customers' sprawling data centers -- the massive, air-conditioned facilities that store information and route anything from eBay purchases to e-mail. IBM would identify potential energy savings areas for its clients, and Neuwing would grant the IT firms certificates for the total megawatt-hours no longer needed to cool or operate the data center equipment. Each certificate would equal 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) per annum, said Rich Lechner, IBM's vice president for IT optimization. Clients could sell the certificates to utilities subject to state renewable portfolio standards, as well as sell to other companies that aim to reduce their carbon footprint through energy savings. The value of the energy efficiency certificates, historically in the $2-$10 range, is determined by the supply and demand for those certificates in each trading market.

While most seem to present a business-as-usual approach, some are more progressive, but without a clear definition as to what the new measures will be and how they will be implemented.

The purchase price of a two megawatt turbine has been pushed up from about $3 million to about $4.4 million as a result. The actual turbines represent from 20 to 50per cent of the final installed cost of any new wind farm, the rest being spent on site investigation, assessment and testing, as well as the installation and infrastructure costs required to connect to the grid, often from remote locations. ...Optimal sites require constant wind speeds of about eight to 10 metres per second. A wind capacity factor of about 35 per cent -- the amount of time the wind actually blows over a year -- is needed to make a site viable.

Unsettlingly, usually, these discussions involve more strong opinions than data. Some people believe that one of these alternative (they are not all sustainable) energy options is the silver bullet that will solve both the climate and the energy crisis. Other argue that there is no silver bullet and that what is required are a variety of silver BB’s: a mixture of technologies, along with greater energy efficiency and preservation of habitat (forests). Do we really just need to build huge number of nuclear plants or wind farms to solve the problem? If, instead, we are going to use a mix of alternative energy sources, which ones should we use and in what quantities?

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has released its fourth assessment report on the environmental situation in 53 European countries, highlighting significant air pollution, biodiversity loss and poor water quality across the region.