Spring is finally approaching, and that means just one more month to submit your entry to the Global Wind Day photo competition which closes on 5 May, and potentially win a €1,000 Amazon voucher! In the latest of the ‘wind energy stories’ series, photographer Robert van Waarden tells and shows the story of Krzysztof Pietrzak, a Polish ornithologist employed at a wind farm near Gościno, Poland.

The shadows are still long on the freshly fallen snow when Krzysztof Pietrzak starts out on his daily walk. Spring is in the air here in Gościno, Poland, and during the next few hours Krzysztof will walk 10 km with his dog Ciapa (‘clumsy’). Krzysztof is an ornithologist. Everyday he follows the same route, monitoring the bird and bat activity at the wind farm near Gościno. His primary job is to determine the mortality rates of birds and bats in relation to the turbines. And Ciapa, despite her playful and clumsy character, is a trained professional particularly good at finding bats.

Inevitably one of the first questions Krzysztof receives is; how many birds or bats have these turbines killed?

More than two-thirds of Americans want the US to place more emphasis on generating domestic energy using wind power, according to a new Gallup public opinion poll.

Published 27 March, the poll results noted that 71% of those surveyed said the nation should put more emphasis in the future on developing wind power. When broken down by political ideology, the poll results showed 83% of those who identified as Democrats favoured more wind power, while 59% of Republicans felt the same way.

“Far fewer want to emphasise the production of oil (46%) and the use of nuclear power (37%),” an accompanying Gallup press release said. “Least favoured is coal, with about one in three Americans wanting to prioritise its domestic production.”

“Republicans and Democrats disagree most on the priority that should be given to oil as a future energy source — with 71% of Republicans wanting more emphasis placed on it, compared with 29% among Democrats,” the press release said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just published a report showing that almost 9% of all annual country budgets are spent supporting oil, natural gas and coal industries through direct subsidies, consumer rebates and avoided taxes on pollution. The report estimates that worldwide subsidies to fossil fuels total $1.9 trillion [€1.5 trillion] – the equivalent to 2.7% of global GDP, or 8% of government revenues, the IMF says.

Wind energy is frequently criticised in the media and by some politicians because it receives government support – which is true. But, have those who raise these views ever stopped to think about the enormous sums in government support fossil fuels have received over their lifetimes – and still do as the latest IMF data testifies?

As a means of comparison, in 2011 alone the International Energy Agency estimated that global fossil fuel direct subsidies were worth $523 billion, compared to $88 billion for renewables.

Ed Davey

While debate in the media rages on whether the UK’s green energy policies will raise electricity bills or not, Ed Davey, UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, has said that onshore and offshore wind power together cost householders only £18 a year in total, according to a Guardian article.

Moreover, Davey said that wind power is needed for the UK’s energy mix to insulate it from global gas prices: “Global gas price hikes are squeezing households. They are beyond any government’s control. The analysis shows that our strategy of shifting to alternatives like renewables and of being smarter with how we use energy is helping those who need it most to save money on their bills.”

The same article noted that UK government analysis published on Wednesday shows that 85% of the current average UK electricity bill (£1,250/year) cannot be controlled by the government because it is determined by international gas and electricity prices, transmission and metering costs.