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Through a study of planning law and the legal challenges to wind energy planning decisions, this article shows how law plays an important role in framing understandings of both wind energy projects and decision making with regard to such projects. Law also provides important forums for dispute resolution. These frames and forums create legal stability in the wake of the legal disruption created by the introduction of wind energy as a significant energy infrastructure. Highlighting that role raises important questions for scholars of energy transitions, planning law, and social regulation more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind energy is the fastest-growing source of energy in the world. This conies as no surprise in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States where wind turbines are widespread. The advantages of wind energy make it an attractive source of new energy. But integrating wind energy into the existing energy system has proven difficult in the Pacific Northwest where there is an abundance of power. When energy oversupply events occur, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) displaces wind energy in favor of federal hydropower generation. Unsurprisingly, wind generators are frustrated with BPA's response, which threatens to eliminate their remuneration. This Comment proposes two storage methods-aquifer recharge and pumped hydropower-as alternatives to curtailing wind generation in the Pacific North west. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the role of the public in obtaining planning permission for onshore wind farms in the UK. Attention will centre primarily on planning law and policy in England and Wales and the role of developers in engaging the public. Part I assesses the importance of public participation generally and reviews current public perception of wind farms. Part II sets out the planning permission legislative processes for wind farms and the involvement of the public within these. Part III looks at alternative ways of improving public acceptance of turbines and, finally, Part IV considers solutions to increasing public participation in planning decisions for these structures. The conclusion reached will be that, while planning procedures must become more participative - especially with regard to early engagement by developers of local communities in the area of the proposed wind farm - it is unlikely that the prescriptive laws required to ensure this will transpire in the near future. Responsibility, therefore, falls to developers to voluntarily apply this engagement to their pre-planning application procedures to ensure that a greater number of onshore wind farms gain planning permission without delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Chapter 404 of California Legislature which aims to encourage local agencies to support the state's renewable energy procurement requirements and standardize the installation permit process that allow local governments to implement ordinances. California has regulated small wind systems with few local ordinances to regulate general building with limitation on heights and space. Moreover, California Legislature has enacted AB 1207 that encourages residents to install small wind energy systems with support from the California Energy Commission to certify small wind turbine in compliance with the Uniform Building Code or the California Building Standards Code.

Abstract: Taxation policy and incentives play a vital role in wind-based distributed generation projects viability. In this paper, a thorough techno-economical evaluation of wind-based distributed generation projects is conducted to investigate the effect of taxes and incentives in the economic viability of investments in this sector. This paper considers the effects of Provincial income taxes, capital cost allowance (CCA), property taxes, and wind power production Federal incentives. The case study is conducted for different wind turbines and wind speed scenarios. Given turbine and wind speed data, the Capacity Factor (CF) of each turbine and wind speed scenario was calculated. Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for different scenarios were then used to assess the project''s viability considering Ontario Standard Offer Program (SOP) for wind power. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The difficulties in estimating the long term mean wind speed and subsequently wind turbine energy output derive from the fact that more often than not, available data is taken at a level other than machine hub height. The 1/7th power law has been recognised as a handy tool to carry out vertical wind speed extrapolation to the desired hub height. It is also understood that using an exponent of 1/7th could lead to underestimation of the actual long-term mean wind speed aloft. This paper strives to evaluate the power law with respect to wind data taken on a 25 m mast on the central Mediterranean island of Malta. Whilst deriving a site-specific factor affiliated to a typical terrain type, it also strives to determine characteristic variations of the power law exponent over appropriate sampling intervals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]