Analyzing ways to help golden eagle populations weather wind-energy growth

"We are taking basic information about golden eagle ecology in the Anthropocene and developing it into predictive frameworks for how to protect them," says Eric Lonsdorf, Emory assistant professor of environmental sciences.By Carol Clark: Wind energy is a major component of the U.S. clean-energy goals. Already one of the fastest growing and lowest-cost sources of electricity in the country, it is poised for even more rapid growth, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.Wind power, however, does not come without trade-offs, including some negative impacts on wildlife. Throughout the United States, for example, it’s been estimated that as many as three golden eagles per wind farm are killed each year by wind turbines.“Renewable energy sources, including wind energy, are critical for us to achieve a net-zero emissions future,” says Eric Lonsdorf, assistant professor of environmental sciences at Emory University. “We need to address conflicts between renewable energy and wildlife conservation so that we can combat climate change while also limiting damage to biodiversity.”Lonsdorf and colleagues are developing data-driven methods to determine how much effort is needed to save golden eagles in order to offset the impact of wind turbines on their populations.The Journal of Wildlife Management recently published their latest model...
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Elusive Space Wind Detected By Cluster Spacecraft

Credit: EGU A new study provides the first conclusive proof of the existence of a space wind first proposed theoretically over 20 years ago. By analysing data from the European Space Agency’s Cluster spacecraft, researcher Iannis Dandouras detected this plasmaspheric wind, so-called because it contributes to the loss of material from the plasmasphere, a donut-shaped region extending above the Earth’s atmosphere. The results are published today in Annales Geophysicae, a journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).  “After long scrutiny of the data, there it was, a slow but steady wind, releasing about 1 kg of plasma every second into the outer magnetosphere: this corresponds to almost 90 tonnes every day. It was definitely one of the nicest surprises I’ve ever had!” said Dandouras of the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology in Toulouse, France. The plasmasphere is a region filled with charged particles that takes up the inner part of the Earth’s magnetosphere, which is dominated by the planet’s magnetic field. To detect the wind, Dandouras analysed the properties of these charged particles, using information collected in the plasmasphere by ESA’s Cluster spacecraft. Further, he developed a filtering technique to eliminate noise sources and to look for plasma motion along the radial direction, either directed...
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Global offshore wind power market to reach 40 GW by 2020

Robin Whitlockin: The global offshore wind power market is expected to grow from 7.1 Gigawatts (GW) in 2013 to 39.9 GW by 2020 according to research company GlobalData. More countries around the world are utilising offshore wind potential, creating at least a fivefold rise in global offshore wind capacity – a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 28 percent. GlobalData’s latest report states that the sector registered substantial growth between 2006 and 2013, rising from 0.9 GW in 2006 to 7.1 GW in 2013. Of this 1.6GW came online in 2013, driven mainly by the UK, Germany, Denmark and Belgium. Offshore wind is now expected to become one of the largest renewable power market segments by 2020 with significant contributions by the UK, Germany and China, thanks to a number of projects currently in the planning and construction stages. “Offshore wind power is increasingly being explored for its high yield, due to stronger and more consistent winds compared to onshore, and the scope that this provides for the construction of large-scale projects” said Swati Singh, GlobalData’s Analyst covering Power. “An additional benefit is the fact that future offshore wind power technology development will ensure a decline in the average cost per megawatt, although overall project costs are expected to rise in countries with wind farms planned...
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