As if the economic devastation and uncertainty experienced around the world the past two years wasn’t bad enough news, along comes a leaked German military study warning how massive oil shortages in the not too distant future could create a disturbing global shift in power.

The study, published earlier this month by Der Spiegel, says “peak oil” could cause a frightening energy crisis that has the possibility of further battering financial markets already dealing with the effects of the near-global recession that began in 2008.

“It warns of shifts in the global balance of power, of the formation of new relationships nations, of the ‘total collapse of the markets’ and of serious political and economic crises,” the Der Spiegel report says.

The quickly developing offshore wind power sector may soon be opening an exciting new chapter with the news that Scotland wants Norway’s largest energy corporation to use its waters to develop the world’s first floating wind farm.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond met Statoil officials last Monday to discuss a proposal by the company to commercially test its Hywind floating turbines in deep water either off the coast of Lewis or Aberdeenshire.

A government of Scotland press release noted Statoil has already constructed a full scale 2.3 MW prototype Hywind unit, anchored 10 kilometres offshore at Karmøy in Norway, in waters up to 200 metres deep.

By Guest blogger Stina Kindberg Piironen, Vattenfall Wind Power

Nearly 500 people braved the weather to experience Vattenfall’s Lillgrund Offshore Wind Farm from close-by on one of the twelve trips organised for Global Wind Day.

Another few hundred visitors stayed onshore and took part in an energy quiz, watched the Lillgrund movie and discussed energy efficiency with Vattenfall’s own energy expert in an orange marquee set up for the occasion on the quayside. Many also signed for a newsletter and went home with an energy-saving light.

The children were happy with their spinning paper windmills, and some of them also got a beach ball or a torch keyring with the Global Wind Day brand. Many interesting wind power-related discussions also took place answering questions such as: how much does a turbine’s foundation weigh? And, how much electricity is needed for an old refrigerator?

The second anniversary of the official opening of Lillgrund Offshore Wind Farm coincided with the Global Wind Day, a day when wind power producers are encouraged to open their wind farms to the public, to promote the benefits of wind energy and highlight the local support that is needed. Vattenfall’s Lillgrund Offshore Wind Farm is situated in the Öresund strait in Swedish waters between Sweden and Denmark.