HAMISH MACDONELL AND STEPHEN MCGINTY
CONSTRUCTION work began on Europe's biggest wind farm yesterday, amid increasing concern that Scotland may not be able to cope with many more developments of such a size and scale.

Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, cut the first turf on the Whitelee wind farm at Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow, hailing the 140-turbine development as a "major contribution" to Britain's commitment to renewable energy.

By Oliver Bullough

A mere breath of a breeze disturbs the quiet of autumn in south London and the wind turbine on the gable of Donnachadh McCarthy's home turns lazily.

The morning sun casts shadows from solar panels onto the walls of the house and filters through the windows into his living room.

"I'm in surplus. I am now providing money to the grid," he said with a grin, gesturing at a red light winking on the wall that marks the progress of his domestic power station.

Gail Kinsey Hill, Portland Oregonian
Projects to power a few thousand homes are springing up in the Columbia River Gorge
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When alternative-energy enthusiasts ponder the potential of wind generation, they generally envision huge, 100-turbine projects capable of producing power for tens of thousands of homes.

But there's a new, more modest player on the block. It's called community wind, and if pent-up interest is any indication, it's destined for a small but determined place on the Northwest's energy grid.

Charles Komanoff, Orion
...But wind energy is never far from my mind these days. As Earth's climate begins to warp under the accumulating effluent from fossil fuels, the increasing viability of commercial-scale wind power is one of the few encouraging developments.

Encouraging to me, at least. As it turns out, there is much disagreement over where big windmills belong, and whether they belong at all.

Matthew L. Wald, NY Times
...When nuclear reactors were first commercialized almost half a century ago, every self-respecting electric utility wanted one. They were encouraged by a government that saw nuclear energy as a peaceful, redemptive byproduct of the deadly power unleashed at Hiroshima. The federal official for promoting nuclear energy, Lewis L. Strauss, said it would produce electricity “too cheap to meter.”

by Tom Whipple
This week the UN is to come up with a sanctions resolution that will keep Iran's two million barrels a day of exports flowing and at the same time convince Tehran to give up on uninspected nuclear enrichment.

Crafting such a resolution is likely to take some doing as the Chinese, who are more concerned about losing oil imports than whether or not Tehran comes up with an atomic bomb, have to sign off on any sanctions plan.

David Smith and Juliette Jowit, The Observer
Our insatiable appetite for the big picture is threatening the planet. A scientist has warned that if half of British homes buy a plasma-screen TV, two nuclear power stations would have to be built to meet the extra energy demand.

Britons were buying flat-screen TVs every 15 seconds from Currys and its online sister company Dixons during the build-up to the World Cup, and subsequent price reductions have ensured they remain hugely popular.