Subject: Wind Energy Weekly 55 2/3

From: [email-masked] (Howard Smith)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 93 20:15:00 -0700

(Continued from previous message)

o    Create a vice-president-level division charged with developing
     alternative energy sources.

     This division would act as an advocate and source of funding
     for alternative energy research and development and would also
     act to ensure that renewable resources are fairly considered
     in resource planning.

o    Create interdepartmental working groups to evaluate potential
     opportunities for renewable energy development, such as stand-
     alone dispersed generation and PV systems for grid support.

o    Explore partnerships with other groups, such as farmers and
     paper and pulp manufacturers, to develop renewable resources
     on a cost-shared, profit-shared basis.

     Unlike fossil fuels, renewable resources demand a close
     relationship between the utility and the communities supplying
     them.  Biomass energy farms, for example, will not be
     developed unless the utility assures farmers that there will
     be a long-term market for the product, and unless the farmers
     assure the utility they will not abandon production.

[Copies of Powering the Midwest are available for $15 members, $20
non-members from AWEA.  For more information or to order by
VISA/Master Card, please call (202) 408-8988; FAX (202) 408-8536.]

UK GROUP SEES MAJOR
WIND RUSH LOOMING

     Renewable energy developers will far outrun British government
expectations by proposing to install 1,100 MW of windpower over the
next two years, the environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE-
UK) announced June 25.

     In a news release posted on the EcoNet electronic network,
FOE-UK said its projections are based on a survey by mail conducted
in May to which 33 developers responded.  It added, "Equivalent to
a 500-MW 'normal' power station, [the wind energy generated by
these projects] would supply the electricity needs of about half a
million people without the long-term environmental impacts of
traditional electricity generation--global warming, acid rain, and
nuclear waste."

     The group also said it has calculated that if all of the
projects were built, and all qualified for the price guarantees to
be provided by the government under the Non Fossil Fuel Obligation
(NFFO) program, they would generate some 230 million pounds' (US $350
million) worth of electricity annually, costing the average British
household 5 pence (US 8 cents) per week.

     As it released the survey results, FOE-UK called on the
government to "speed up the announcement and setting of a new NFFO
order for renewable energy projects.

     "While the [g]overnment has provided market support for new
renewable energy projects in 1990 and 1991, there have been no
further orders since.  As a result, the future of the fledgling
renewables industry has been effectively 'on hold' for 19 months to
date."

     The group said it expects the government to issue a new NFFO
order during the current session of Parliament, but that the order
is likely to cover only about 130 MW to 150 MW of new wind
projects, "or less than 15 percent of those uncovered by the . . .
survey."  The survey, FOE-UK added, "revealed that none of the
developers would be able to take their projects forward without a
1993 NFFO."

     Fiona Weightman, FOE-UK Renewable Energy Campaigner, urged the
government to "end [the] 'boom-bust' cycle in the renewable energy
industry . . . [by providing] . . . a clear framework for future
developments which reflects the potential . . . and its minimal
impact on consumer bills.  The current uncertainty and lack of
governmental ambition in renewables serves only to undermine the
industry and prolong environmental damage."

     FOE-UK also noted that a report issued June 22 by the
government's Energy Technology Support Unit said attitudes toward
windpower among residents near a Cornwall windfarm changed for the
better after the facility was installed:  "Only two percent of the
sample remained disapproving of windpower after the local windfarm
was built."  The report added that "many of the worries local
residents had about the wind turbines before the structures were
built have proved unfounded after they were up and functioning."

     For further information contact Fiona Weightman, Renewable
Energy Campaigner, FOE-UK, phone 011-44-71-566-1672, or Simon
Roberts, Senior Energy Campaigner, phone 011-44-71-490-0224.

     [ed. note: The full text of the FOE-UK news release is
available electronically to members of the Wind Information Network

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 þ QMPro 1.02 41-1019 þ If it wasn't for C, we'd be using BASI, PASAL and OBOL.