High tide for wind power?

It will not have gone unnoticed by many people that settled spells of either very cold or very hot weather coincide with static areas of high pressure, which are also characterised by periods of calm. Just when electricity demand is at its peak, the preferred renewable energy source fails to deliver anything.

This is essentially the basis of a rather good spoof piece of news circulating on 1st April. Like all good April Fool jokes, this had a degree of believability to draw in the unsuspecting reader. Starting with some commentary about the proposed Severn barrage providing predictable but fluctuating power, it moved on to the suggested introduction of flexible working patterns, school hours and timing of sporting fixtures based on the tide tables. And finally, there was a proposal by the wind industry to reschedule weekends and public holidays at short notice depending on the expected weather forecast.

If wind power is becoming the butt of such jokes, someone should tell Ed Miliband that his vision of opposition to wind farms becoming socially unacceptable is unlikely to fly. Especially if the wind isn't blowing.

Bowdoin: Climate scam swallowed whole

The April Climate Days look to spice up—not heat up—campus next week.

Organized by the President's Climate Commitment Advisory Committee, the events include a Climate Fair, the results of the Climate Matters Contest, and a Common Hour lecture with environmental advocate Majora Carter.
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The top five proposals tackle the College's carbon emissions from a spectrum of angles. While one proposal suggests installing a "windmill field" on the Naval Air Station land, another recommends consolidating fall and Thanksgiving breaks, so that less energy is used in travel and re-opening the school twice. A third suggests raising the vehicle registration fee (Bowdoin's is one of the lowest in the NESCAC) and implementing a new parking policy under which cars could only be parked on the main campus for five or ten minutes.