Wind industry group opposes federal guidelines to protect birds

The American Wind Energy Association Industry said it will oppose plans by a federal agency to adopt voluntary regulations on wind developers to protect birds and other wildlife.

AWEA said in a release that more than 34,000 MW of potential wind power development, $68 billion in investment and 27,000 jobs are at risk due to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policies on golden eagles.

"Those numbers are expected to grow exponentially with analysis of the full scope of the proposed guidelines," AWEA said.

Two Fish and Wildlife Service documents offer guidelines for utility-scale and community-scale wind energy facilities to, according to the agency, "avoid and minimize" negative impacts to fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats.

"Draft Voluntary, Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines" was developed for industry to avoid and minimize impacts to federally protected migratory birds and bats and other impacted wildlife resulting from site selection, construction, operation and maintenance of land-based, wind energy facilities. The Fish and Wildlife Service also developed peer-reviewed "Draft Eagle Conservation Plan Guidance" for wind project developers and employees who must evaluate impacts from proposed wind energy projects to eagles protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and other federal laws.

AWEA said it cannot support either document even though it participated for more than two years in a public, collaborative Federal Advisory Committee process. AWEA said the process resulted in consensus recommendations on wind turbine siting that wind energy developers broadly supported.

AWEA said in a release "Unfortunately, the guidance released deviates significantly from the consensus recommendations." Among other problems with the guidance as released, it could:

Delay construction of projects by up to three years and require operating projects to retroactively conduct post-construction wildlife studies for a minimum of two and as much as five years, adding unforeseen costs to the operating budgets of these facilities.

Require "adaptive management", which could include operational changes, such as shutting off turbines at certain times of the year, which will add further unquantifiable costs to even projects already permitted and operating.

Request analysis on wildlife-based sound impacts without any peer-reviewed scientific evidence that sound related to the construction and operation of wind farms has the potential to impact wildlife.

"Greatly expand" applicability under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to projects built on private lands, adding time and costs to developing wind projects, when there is no federal staff to perform this "vastly increased amount of administrative work."

Source:-http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/0355924858/articles/powergenworldwide/renewables/wind/2011/02/awea-birds.html

India's Simhapuru targets S.African coal

CAPE TOWN: India's Simhapuri Energy , a unit of the Madhucon Group , wants to buy new or existing collieries in South Africa from where it aimed to export a minimum of 5 million tonnes within five years, an official said on Tuesday. 

Indian companies are buying coal assets in top five global exporter South Africa as it moves to secure resources for a growing economy and to feed coal into new power plants. 

"We want to invest in coal and are looking at some acquisitions. From South Africa we are targeting a minimum of five milion tonnes of coal for export within five years," Nama Krishnaiah, director of Simhapuri Energy, told Reuters on the sidelines of an African mining conference. 

Displacing Europe, India and China are emerging as the two main destinations for coal from South Africa, which last year shipped some 63 million tonnes of thermal coal. 

Maducon Group has interests in the construction, coal and sugar industries, with Madhucon Projects listed in Bombay. 

Krishnaiah said the company, which recently opened offices in Johannesburg, was in discussions with unnamed junior miners, as well as applying directly to the Department of Mineral Resources for mining licenses. 

"At this moment we are targeting some brownfield projects that have mining licenses, but we are looking at greenfield (developments) also," said Krishnaiah, adding that Zimbabwe's coal fields were also attractive. 

He said the company, which was developing a 1,920 megawatt power plant near India's Krishnapatnam port, was financially strong and had capital to purchase coals assets. 

The company already owns coal mines in Indonesia.

Source: India's Simhapuru targets S.African coal - The Economic Times

Obama Sets 2035 Clean Electricity Target - Planet Ark

U.S. President Barack Obama set a target for power plants to produce mostly clean electricity by 2035 -- including power from sources like clean coal and natural gas -- in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Obama also called for investment in clean technologies and urged Congress to eliminate billions of dollars in subsidies for oil companies.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own," Obama said about oil company profits. "So instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrow's."

Such a move, which Obama has repeatedly urged since taking office in 2009, would hit U.S. operations of oil majors such as Exxon Mobil, British Petroleum and ConocoPhillips. In last year's budget Obama had called for an end to nearly $40 billion in subsidies for oil, gas and coal companies, a proposal that failed.

But while he took aim again at oil companies, Obama sought a centrist message on an issue that has sharply divided Washington, saying nuclear power and two fossil fuels, clean coal and natural gas, would be needed to meet a goal of 80 percent clean energy in less than 25 years.

"Some folks want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean coal, and natural gas," Obama said. "To meet this goal, we will need them all and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen."

After a comprehensive energy bill that included a cap and trade market on carbon emissions failed in the Senate, Obama said last year that climate change policy would have to be achieved in smaller chunks.

Josh Freed, the director of the clean energy program at the nonpartisan think tank Third Way, said Obama's inclusion of nuclear power and natural gas in his targets for clean energy could attract the necessary votes in Congress.

"There's a large faction of Republicans and some Democrats who don't believe we can make the transition to clean energy without including nuclear power," he said.

A group of bi-partisan senators tried last year to push a clean energy mandate that did not include nuclear, clean coal or natural gas, but the measure was not brought up for a vote, in part because it was uncertain whether there was enough support.

The power industry has been hoping for a so-called nuclear energy renaissance, but investors have been hesitant to put money in new plants that can cost up to $10 billion.

To help push investments, the Department of Energy has offered billions in loan guarantees to help build the first U.S. nuclear power plant in nearly three decades.

Capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from power plants and burying it underground before it reaches the smokestack, is the main clean coal technology.

Energy experts say clean coal will be needed in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions dramatically since the country currently gets about half of its power from the fossil fuel.

In his speech on Tuesday, Obama cast the call for more investment in clean energy research on technologies both as a way for the United States to become more energy independent and as a challenge to surpass rapidly developing countries like China and India on development of renewable

"With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015," he said.

However, some Republicans were quickly dismissive of Obama's comments on energy, saying the administration should also focus on conventional energy by loosening restrictions on drilling for domestic oil.

"Today, American families are facing the harsh realities of rising gas prices, higher electricity costs and near double-digit unemployment," said Doc Hastings, the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

"Instead of addressing these issues head-on, the Administration has spent the past two years blocking access to America's resources that create jobs and produce more energy."

Source: World Environment News - Obama Sets 2035 Clean Electricity Target - Planet Ark