Anti-wind study funded by…surprise!…U.S. fossil group

Last year, a research company in Denmark produced a controversial report that questioned the credibility of the Danish wind industry, particularly claims that wind energy reduces carbon emissions.

The report raised eyebrows because the Danes are really good at wind energy–for example, they have come up with a system of power shifting and trading with their neighbors that can be a model for the United States when it gets serious about integrating wind into the utility system. At the time, Danish energy experts rebutted the study's major conclusions.

Now the Danish organization has publicly acknowledged that the report was funded by the Institute for Energy Research, a U.S. organization with close ties to the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

The Danish research firm also acknowledged that it was told that IER is funded by elements of the U.S. fossil fuel industry.

IER, a small organization staffed largely by former Congressional aides, has been conducting a vigorous anti-wind campaign based on poorly sourced assertions that wind energy is bad for the environment and is subsidized by the government to mask its true cost.

In addition to the Danish study, IER was tied to a Spanish wind study whose conclusions were subsequently undercut by Spanish energy officials.

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