wind

The wind in the trees

by Bryan Walker June 14, 2011

In search of something cheering in the face of the depressing news of continuing increases in the levels of greenhouse gas emissions I found my way to the website of Renewable Energy World Magazine and the welcome reminder that alongside the increasingly dangerous exploitation of fossil fuels the renewable energy industry is making significant progress. [...]

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Let the wind blow (again)

by Bryan Walker March 16, 2011

Lester Brown doesn’t let up when he’s published a book. Over successive months his Earth Policy Institute produces follow-up articles focusing on particular topics. The latest is on wind power, which was strongly advocated in his recent book World on the Edge as the early leader in the move to renewable sources of energy. What [...]

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Whispering wind #2

by Bryan Walker March 12, 2011

The arrival of a Wind Energy Association Newsletter suggested it might be time for an update on wind power in New Zealand. It’s nearly two years since I wrote about wind farm prospects in my own Waikato region. The first of those wind farms, at Te Uku, is now up and running. The Prime Minister [...]

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Here comes the sun: 100% renewables by 2050

by Bryan Walker February 7, 2011

Is a fully sustainable global energy system possible by 2050? It’s hard to imagine a more important question if we entertain hopes of avoiding the worst effects of climate change. It is the question addressed by a new and substantial report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the sustainable energy research and [...]

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The Renewable Revolution

by Bryan Walker February 6, 2011

The recommendations of Bill McKibben and Ross Gelbspan, among others, attracted me to Sajed Kamal’s book The Renewable Revolution, and its subtitle was an additional enticement: How we can Fight Climate Change, Prevent Energy Wars, Revitalise the Economy and Transition to a Sustainable Future. The book is on a smaller scale than its subtitle might [...]

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Renewable Energy: The Facts

by Bryan Walker December 14, 2010

Germany is a country which has attracted much attention for taking renewable energy technology seriously, not least because it has gained significant economic advantage in doing so. That lends interest to the publication of an English translation of the book, Renewable Energy: The Facts, by German writers Dieter Seifried and Walter Witzel. The authors write [...]

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NZ regions planning for climate change

by Bryan Walker November 13, 2010

I opened the latest Environment Waikato news update to discover that a Regional Policy Statement (RPS) is due, ten years after the last one. As I thumbed through the publication a heading leapt out at me: “Our climate is changing, so we must too.” Underneath came this statement: “Even if all greenhouse gas emissions were [...]

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The answer, my friend…

by Bryan Walker September 13, 2010

Some encouraging facts and figures are provided in an interview with the CEO of the European Wind Energy Association, Christian Kjaer, by Yale Environment 360. For the past two years 40 per cent of all new electricity generating capacity in Europe came from wind turbines. (Add solar and other renewables and that rises to 63 [...]

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Ramping up renewables

by Bryan Walker August 26, 2010

There may be conflicting reports as to whether renewable energy can replace fossil fuels in time to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and there are still plenty of people in positions of authority, like our own Energy Minister, who see little reason to hurry the process. The heavy lobbying influence of big oil and coal [...]

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Brownlee’s energy strategy: dig and burn

by Bryan Walker July 26, 2010

The newly released Draft NZ Energy Strategy (PDF, web) is a winding back of the clock from the substantial statement released under the previous government only three years ago. When announcing early in his term as Minister that a new strategy was required Gerry Brownlee complained of the old one: “You need only read the [...]

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