U.K. renewable power generation surged 20 percent last year, boosted by new offshore wind farms, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said.

...“The largest absolute increase in generation was from offshore wind,” the department said. “This was largely due to increased capacity.”

The U.K. aims to get 30 percent of its electricity from clean sources by 2020 as part of efforts to meet an EU target of deriving 15 percent of all energy, including for heat and transportation, from renewables.
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Click here to read this Bloomberg article

The Danish Wind Energy Association has announced that Denmark now gets 30% of its electricity from wind, with offshore wind set to drive most of their growth on the way to their goal of 50% wind.  Click here for the announcement.

From President Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Address:

"...We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.  Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.

The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure -- our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared..."

President Barack Obama, January 21, 2013

Siemens has launched exciting new videos about the important role wind and offshore wind can play in supplying clean energy to the world.

Click here to view their "Next Big Step video" (2 minutes, 29 seconds)

Also Siemens has produced 2 videos on their operations and maintenance (O&M) activities on offshore wind farms, a good preview of the kinds of jobs coming to Falmouth harbor on Cape Cod...

Click here to view Siemens #1 video on offshore wind O&M (3 minutes, 41 seconds)

Click here to view Siemens #2 video on offshore wind O&M (3 minutes, 54 seconds)

Wind and solar are relatively safe forms of energy, a feature that we tend to overlook until a disaster hits like the "superstorm" that disabled New York City's power grid this week.

Unlike fossil fuel plants, they require no combustible fuels to generate electricity. And there is no danger that they will leak radiation as did the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant following last year’s tsunami in Japan.  Hence, the Northeast’s wind and solar farms evoked little public anxiety this week when Hurricane Sandy hit – unlike the nuclear and fossil fuel infrastructure.

Click here to read this article in Renewable Energy World

Environment America today submitted a letter to President Obama with the signatures of 217 environmental organizations, businesses, clean energy advocates and state and local officials calling for strong policy support of launching an American offshore wind industry.

Click here for more information.

...Oliver Hogan, from the CEBR, said: "Wherever the wind farms are going to be located I think much of the economic impact of that investment is going to be felt in that region."

Click here to read this BBC article

Global investment in clean energy hit a record $260 billion in 2011, up 5 percent from the previous year as investment in solar grew by more than a third despite shrinking profit margins, some bankruptcies and flagging share prices, a report said.

The United States last year regained its title as the top country for clean energy investment, beating out China for the first time since 2008, said a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) on Thursday.

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Click here to read this Reuters article

Wind War won, Clean Power Now to withdraw troops from field
Nothing left for 12,000 member grassroots organization to accomplish

By Walter Brooks

Clean Power Now, that grassroots group of Cape Wind supporters here on Cape Cod and the Islands, is disbanding now that the project has its approvals and lease. Apparently, it's hard to keep up the energy of the clean energy group when the fight seems to have been all but won. Clearly, they were there when it mattered most, countering what they viewed as misinformation being put forward by the opposition group and in helping give an organized voice to the majority of folks here who support this project at public hearings and with the media.

This 'battle fatigue' can be seen with the opposition group too. They recently reported that the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound (APNS) ended the year 2010 nearly a million and a half dollars in debt, their donations just weren't keeping pace with their ongoing and increasing legal expenses.
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Click here to read more on Cape Cod Today

Maryland utilities Exelon and Contellation required to provide $32 Million to fund offshore wind power research and develop substantial amounts of reneweable energy in Maryland to create jobs in-state (instead of just importing it from other states) as part of a settement agreement in their merger case.
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Click here to read the announcement