New Wyoming Game and Fish guidelines aim to reduce renewable energy impact
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Seeking to limit impacts on wildlife from an increasing number of renewable power developments, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission revised 10-year-old guidelines recently, adopting for the first time recommendations on solar projects.
The guidelines seek early engagement with developers and may call for at least two years of wildlife monitoring before they break ground. By working with developers even when they’re selecting a location, impacts can be minimized, said Amanda Losch, the agency habitat protection program supervisor.
Article continues below.
“We really wanted to clarify a process where we had a lot of communication and touch points … so there’s constantly a back and forth,” she said. “For us, it’s all about having open lines of communication.”
Texas offered the brightest spot in wind energy in 2020, a year that experts say was the strongest ever for growth in the industry.
Developers built nearly 17,000 megawatts of capacity in the last year enough enough to power more than 5 million American homes. That s according to a report released Thursday by the American Clean Power Association.
Most of the growth came in the fourth quarter, when developers commissioned 10,593 MW of capacity. Roughly one fifth of the power generated during that quarter 2,197 MW came from Texas.
“2020 was a banner year for the wind industry,” said Heather Zichal, president/CEO of American Clean Power, formerly the American Wind Energy Association. “Despite all the challenges COVID-19 placed on our businesses, we still shattered nearly every record for capacity and growth. The fourth quarter was not only the strongest quarter on record, but it also saw more wind installed in just that quarter than in any full year except 2012
New Game and Fish guidelines aim to reduce renewable energy impact By Greg Hirst on January 31, 2021
(Shutterstock)
Seeking to limit impacts on wildlife from an increasing number of renewable power developments, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission revised 10-year-old guidelines Thursday, adopting for the first time recommendations on solar projects.
Article continues below.
The guidelines seek early engagement with developers and at least two years of wildlife monitoring before they break ground. By working with developers even when they’re selecting a location, impacts can be minimized, said Amanda Losch, the agency habitat protection program supervisor.
“We really wanted to clarify a process where we had a lot of communication and touch points … so there’s constantly a back and forth,” she said. “For us, it’s all about having open lines of communication.”
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Nicholas Doherty/Unsplash
After decades of fits and starts, the U.S. has one offshore wind farm, which can power only 17,000 homes.
In the North Sea, 75 miles off the Yorkshire coast of England, the worldâs largest offshore wind farm began producing electricity in 2019. Powering more than one million homes, Hornsea 1 is the initial segment of a multipronged project to supply energy to millions more. It wonât hold that distinction for long, though, with construction under way on Dogger Bank, also in United Kingdom waters, which will be the worldâs biggest offshore site, providing electricity to up to six million homes when fully powered up.
MLA unhappy with wind power initiative
BAR HARBOR A Gulf of Maine offshore wind power initiative Maine Governor Janet Mills rolled out late last year has raised concern in the lobster fishing community, with Maine Lobstermen’s Association Executive Director Patrice McCarron telling The Islander that “the area identified by the state of Maine for a potential offshore wind farm is prime fishing bottom for Maine fishermen.”
Mills first announced plans to explore offshore wind development last June, when she signed a bill requiring the Public Utilities Commission to approve a floating offshore wind demonstration project, the first of its kind in the United States. The program, Aqua Ventus, is run through the University of Maine and is funded through $39.9 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.