Resource Library

We are building a small library of electronic documents that provide additional information about sustainable energy and the processes involved in our projects. Please browse through and learn more about the technologies. If you know of a resource that should be added, please email us and let us know.

Wind Power

• NEW! Behind the Switch: Pricing Ontario's Electricity Options, by the Pembina Institute.
• Blowing Smoke: Correcting Anti-Wind Myths in Ontario
• World Wind Energy Report 2009: Executive Summary
• CANWEA's Best Practices for Community Engagement
• Ministry of Environment's Guide to Provincial Approval for Renewable Energy Projects
  A 76-page guide to the approvals process for RE projects in Ontario, with an overview and technology-specific sections for wind, biogas, solar etc.
• Ontario Landowner's Guide to Wind Energy by Paul Gipe and James Murphy, 2005
  While somewhat dated, this OSEA document provides useful information for landowners considering leasing land for a turbine.
• Landowner's Guide to Wind Energy in Alberta, Pembina Institute
  Much of this document is relevant to Ontario landowners as well.
• Danish Wind Power Export and Cost. CEESA.
  Denmark produces over 20% of its electricity from wind power. This report notes: "The cost of wind power is paid solely by the electricity consumers and the net influence on consumer prices was as low as 1-3 percent on average in the period 2004-2008. In 2008, the net influence even decreased the average consumer price, although only slightly."

NEW! Municipal Issues

RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT: A Guide for Municipalities. (Warning: Large PDF file (43MB)).

"Health effects"

There has been a lot of talk about the "health effects" of wind turbines. While there are a number of Ontario residents living near wind farms who blame their ailments on nearby turbines, extensive studies suggest these complaints have more to do with people's attitude to the turbines - and maybe even their poitical preferences - than they do to any physiological connection. It is also worth noting that these concerns are largely "Ontario grown" - there has been virtually no "health issue" debate in Germany, Denmark, or the USA, where wind turbines and people have lived in close proximity for many years.

The following studies throw serious doubt on claims that wind turbines are harmful to human health:

• 1) Recently (July 18, 2011), the Environmental Reviews Tribunal of Ontario, after an extensive inquiry into the evidence, concluded that the evidence presented - and this was the best evidence available - did not lead to the conclusion that the project in question (the Kent Breeze Wind Project) would cause "serious harm to human health". See all the tribunal's reports here.

• 2) Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health concluded in 2010 that the available evidence did not suggest any direct causal link between wind turbines and adverse heath effects. Her report is here.

• 3) (MUST READ) A study commissioned by the Australian Clean Energy Council found extensive evidence that sound from wind farms developed and operated in accordance with the current standards and guidelines will not have any direct adverse health effects. See the full report here.

No doubt there remains some uncertainty about the impact of wind turbines on their neighbours (due to annoyance, fear, sensitivities, or what is called the "nocebo effect"), and we agree that the potential negative impacts deserve further study. We feel the call for further studies, however, should be considered in light of the known harmful effects of coal and nuclear power. The health of our planet, and our children, is at stake.

Property Values

Some St Agatha residents have expressed concern that their home's value will decline because of nearby turbines. Property values are of course affected by many factors, but studies have shown that local wind turbines play a small part in determining home values.

A major study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US) found that "neither the view of the wind facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities is found to have any consistent, measurable, and statistically significant effect on home sales prices." The full study can be downloaded at http://www.canwea.ca/pdf/talkwind/Property_Value_Study.pdf. (PDF file)

More locally, a detailed study in the Chatham-Kent area found "no statistical inference to demonstrate that wind farms negatively affect rural residential market values in Chatham-Kent." The full report by Canning Consultants & John Simmons Realty can be found here.

Bio-gas Documents

• Bio-gas Backgrounder from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
• Considerations Infosheet

Our Friends' Blogs

• Curt Hammond/Pearl Street Communications
• Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star Columnist
• Paul Gipe
• Glen Estill, Sky Generation