Focus On The Environment

Germany leads the way on wind power

Germany leads the European Union in the development of wind power. According to Germany’s Federation of Wind Energy (BWE), there were 22,664 wind turbines operating in Germany in the first six months of 2012, with a total capacity of 30,016 megawatts.

In addition to land turbines, nine offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 45 megawatts went online. “By the end of the year,” the federation’s website says, “further projects with an installed capacity of 2,000 megawatts and a total investment volume of around 7.5 billion euros will have reached the construction phase.”

A fearless advocate of wind power

This Kincardine-area farmer speaks out regularly at major wind power rallies and is a staunch believer in the importance of co-operation and community involvement

by MIKE MULHERN

Whether you are for or against wind turbine power generation in Ontario, you’ve probably heard of Jutta Splettstoesser, she has been a tireless booster of wind power in Ontario, first as the founding president of Friends of Wind Ontario beginning in June 2011 and now as a director of the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association.

Tall, serious, direct, a good listener but fearless, Splettstoesser can usually be found at major wind rallies expressing her support for the technology.

Great Lakes agreement includes sanctions for polluting municipalities

Reducing phosphorus into the Great Lakes is a goal of a new agreement signed last month by the federal governments of Canada and the United States. Agriculture is going to be a target but so will municipalities according to the mayor of Goderich

by DON STONEMAN

Those toughened laws, signed by top environment officials from Canada and the United States in early September  to deal with pollution in the Great Lakes, are also going to include penalties against municipal sewage plants, says the mayor of Goderich.