With Global Wind Day just over two months away, the Austrian Wind Energy Association has decided to place a mini wind turbine right in the centre of Vienna. Lukas Pawek, coordinator of Global Wind Day in Austria, explains why…

This week the Austrian Wind Energy Association placed a small wind turbine in the centre of Vienna adorned in art by local graffiti artist Tim Stehle. This event is the official start of the first “Austrian Wind Art Contest”, aiming at promoting Global Wind Day on 15 June. It’s easy to join the contest: just upload a picture before 15 August of your wind art at: www.tagdeswindes.at/kunst, and you could win one of nine prizes from an electric bike to an Apple iPad. A jury of art-cooperatives and wind power companies will select and award the prizes.

Angelika Pullen

By Angelika Pullen, WindMade

It was predictable, but still disappointing: The Doha climate negotiations confirmed that the multilateral process to save our climate has stalled. We are not likely to see much movement from governments for many years to come.

Unfortunately, though, the climate can’t wait for international negotiators to get their acts together. So, what can we do?

For our sector, it means that we have to press on with the renewable energy revolution regardless. Of course this will continue to be driven by national and regional targets and legislation, but I am convinced that companies and consumers can and must also make a contribution to drive demand for renewable energy.

People want to see change now, with or without a global deal – not just the increasing number of climate activists, but also your average man on the street. Poll after poll shows that people care, that they love renewables, and that they want to have a choice. It’s all about transparency.

The Global Wind Day “wind energy stories” series continues as photographer and wind power enthusiast Robert van Waarden travels to Flevoland to meet Stephan and Ralph de Clerck who successfully combine wind power and farming.

Cycling along the country roads of Flevoland, you can’t help but notice the wind. If you’re lucky, it is behind you, if it isn’t… well, good luck. It is no wonder that wind turbines haphazardly dot the landscape. They fit. This is the Netherlands, a country where wooden windmills have dotted the landscape for hundreds of years. Now instead of pumping water, modern wind turbines are now powering thousands of homes.

Stephan de Clerck and his brother Ralph live within a few kilometres of each other in Flevoland and they are no strangers to the wind. They have been harvesting wind energy for 11 years. In the beginning they were looking for ways to diversify their farms and incomes. They love how wind energy perfectly complements their other crops of potatoes, onions, and sugar beets. Once installed, the windmills turn steadily in the background, while the day-to-day life of a farmer continues. For them, wind energy is a valuable crop, and one that gets better the stormier the weather.

The European Union could achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050 “at the latest” if ambitious renewable energy targets for 203o are agreed, WWF has said in a new report.

By 2030 the EU could be generating more than 40% of its energy from renewable sources, said the report, Re-energising Europe: Putting the EU on Track for 100% Renewable Energy.

Based on research by Ecofys, the report provides policy makers dealing with the continued economic crisis a strong reminder that investing in wind power and other renewables while also agreeing to binding targets until 2030 makes good fiscal and environmental sense.

“Europe has significant untapped potential for cutting energy use and maximising indigenous power sources that could deliver cheaper and more secure energy,” said the report, which called renewable energy a beacon of hope.

The week on the EWEA blog starts with a “wind energy story”, in association with Global Wind Day, as photographer and wind power enthusiast Robert van Waarden travels to Ireland to meet Pat Blount, initiator of a wind energy project in County Louth.

Like many others, Pat Blount’s life changed on a bar stool. Striking up a conversation with the individual beside him, Pat was soon deep in discussion with a representative from wind turbine manufacturer Vestas. Pat proceeded to volley his new companion with question after question about the wind industry and when he left the bar, he set off on a path that would change himself and at least one community along the way.

A man of the outdoors and the mountains, Pat always cared about energy conservation and the natural world. His discussion on that bar stool was the push he needed to take the plunge. He dived headfirst into the wind industry and identified possible wind sites across Ireland. One of these was in Collon, County Louth. After checking the grid access to the Collon wind site, he found the landowners and invited them to join his business venture. Pat agreed to take the financial risk, if they provided the land and they would be equal owners of the business.