----- forwarded message ----- Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 18:54:42 -0500 From: "Tom Gray" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The following is the time-lagged electronic edition of WIND ENERGY WEEKLY, Vol. 19, #924, 8 December 2000, published by the American Wind Energy Association. The currently-dated electronic edition of the WEEKLY is available for $595/year and is recommended for those with a serious commercial interest in wind (the time-lagged edition contains only excerpts). A monthly publication, the WINDLETTER, more suitable for those interested in residential wind systems is available for a $50/year individual contribution to the Association. For more information on the Association, contact AWEA, 122 C Street, NW, Suite #380, Washington, DC 20001, USA, phone (202) 383-2500, fax (202) 383-2505, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Or visit our Web site at http://www.awea.org . ___________________________________________ [rest clipped - just the following article which looks interesting - Will] Europe's energy ministers boost renewable energy target ___________________________________________ RENEWABLES POWERED CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE CENTER IN THE HAGUE ___________________________________________ Negotiators failed recently to reach agreement in The Hague, The Netherlands, on how to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases, but the conference center that hosted the climate change negotiations generated no emissions of its own, reports the Earth Times News Service. All 400,000 kWh of electricity used to light and heat the center, run the computers and fax machines, and otherwise enable the negotiations to run smoothly over two weeks were generated by wind and solar energy. The electricity consumed at the conference "equals about one half the annual production of a 160-foot windmill," said Annemarie Goedmakers, director of Nuon, the Dutch utility providing the clean power. That amount would power nearly 1,400 Dutch households for a year. Nuon operates 18 wind farms and solar panels totaling about 1 MW of power for a green power product that is sold at a premium to its residential and business customers. About 40,000 customers currently purchase Nuon's green power product, up from 20,000 in 1999. With a total of 2.6 million customers, Nuon is the largest utility in the Netherlands. [two items clipped - ok, so there were two articles - Will] ___________________________________________ EUROPEAN ENERGY MINISTERS INCREASE RENEWABLES GOAL FROM 14% TO 22% ___________________________________________ Energy ministers from the European Union's 15 member countries have agreed to increase the percentage of electricity coming from renewable energy sources like wind to 22% from 14%, according to the Reuters news agency. The ministers refrained from making the targets legally binding. Individual countries agreed to different targets, according to current renewable capacity. For example, the U.K, which currently generates less than 2% of its electricity from renewable sources, agreed to a target of 10%. Austria, which generates much of its electricity from hydropower, agreed to increase its share of renewable energy to 78% from 70%. The European Parliament, the EU's legislative arm based in Strasbourg, is calling for the new targets to be legally binding. The Parliament and EU ministers will need to reach agreement over this issue over the coming months. The EU energy ministers also stated that the targets were agreed to on the condition that member countries would be allowed to continue to support renewable energy through subsidies, signaling potential disagreement with the EU 's Competition Commissioner. The Competition Commissioner is pushing for a reduction and harmonization of national subsidy regimes within five years, while the European Parliament and individual governments want such programs to be allowed to continue over a longer period.
