With just over two weeks to go until Global Wind Day (GWD), interest in celebrating the power of wind on or about 15 June is growing in the three nations of North America.

In Boston, the 381-year-old capital of Massachusetts, free scheduled GWD events in the city include educational sessions, movie screenings and political actions designed to raise awareness about electrical generation and use while promoting clean energy solutions.

Opening session at EWEA 2012

Neil Jeffery, CEO of Renewable World – EWEA’s chosen charity – shares his thoughts on the EWEA Annual Event in Copenhagen in April and on how renewable energy can bring affordable electricity to some of the world’s poorer regions…

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) 2012 Annual Event was an inspiring week, reminding me how much more we can potentially achieve to bring affordable energy to the poorest on the planet far and how far Renewable World has come as a successful and growing organisation.

Sitting in one of the conference sessions watching the simple and clear graphics designed by the EWEA team that explained how the world needs constant innovation and pioneers to drive forward positive change, I was reminded of the critical role of dedicated, hardworking and visionary individuals to push forward the creation of appropriate responses to critical global challenges.

Forecasting how much households will be paying for their electricity in the coming years is never an easy task and no government, especially in these austerity times, wants to tell the electorate that its policies will lead to increased prices. But the UK government this week published its draft energy bill, offering support for renewables, including wind power, and saying these measures will reduce consumer energy bills.

By Julian Scola, EWEA Communications Director

“EU Plans to Phase Out Solar, Wind-Energy Subsidies” was the headline last weekend in Business Week – echoing a similar story in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The article claimed that a strategy paper Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger will present next month in Brussels would include plans to phase out solar and wind-power subsidies as soon as possible.

EWEA Research Officer Angeliki Koulouri

A new study, published by the Bavarian Environment Agency in Germany, has found that wind turbines do not generate infrasound at a level that would damage human health, backing-up previous studies with similar conclusions.

Wind energy structures generate infrasound which is far below normal human hearing and perception, which is why it cannot cause any damage to people, the study – ‘Wind turbines: does infrasound affect health?’ concludes. Angeliki Koulouri, Research Officer at EWEA, said: “so far, research indicated that infrasound and low frequency sounds from modern wind turbines are well below the level where known health effects occur.”