mikeg

Wind power breezes through the tough times

Posted by: mikeg | 04 Feb 10 | 5 comments

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Despite the tough economic times we’re living in, wind power continues to expand around the globe. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the worldwide wind power capacity grew by 31% last year, adding 37.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to the global mix. This just points out all the more clearly that it ain't just the answer to our climate woes that is blowing in the wind.

Spain's Maranchon Wind Farm is the largest in Europe with 104 generators, and is operated by Iberdrola, the largest wind energy company in the world. © Greenpeace / Daniel Beltrá

As we continue to search for ways to foster an economic recovery, the incredible growth of wind power capacity around the world shows that wind energy is not just the right choice for saving the climate, but also for creating jobs and putting folks back to work.

The American Wind Energy Association reports that the US didn't do too shabby itself, installing a record-breaking 10,000 megawatts (MW), or 10 GW, of new wind power capacity in 2009. This brings total wind capacity in the US up to 35 GW. But according to the GWEC, China contributed a third of the global wind power expansion last year, marking the fifth straight year in which the country at least doubled its capacity for generating power from the wind. China is now producing more than 25 GW of power from the wind, up from just over 12 GW the year before. Kinda puts our 10 GW increase into perspective. For a country that prides itself on innovation and forward-thinking, the US can and should do better.

Here we are in America still fighting for our first large-scale offshore wind project, Cape Wind. If you haven’t already, sign our petition calling on Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to approve Cape Wind and help get us on the path to a clean, green future.

But even if we were to go all in for wind power tomorrow, how would we get that clean energy from the point of production to the point of consumption? Glad you asked! It just so happens we have just released a report describing how global electricity grids can sustain high levels of renewable energy. The report is called Renewables 24/7, click that link and you can download the whole thing as a PDF.

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Comments (5)

daniel V. on February 05, 2010

I'm confused about the numbers. Isn't 35,000 MW = 35 GW?
mikeg on February 05, 2010

yep, thanks for catching that. i meant to discuss the yearly increases, not total output. fixed it in the post, and cleared up the confusion with MW versus GW (I hope!).
TRICIA S. on February 06, 2010

Is your article meant to educated the general public? Perhaps not, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's meant to enhance the knowledge of those who are already educated on renewable energy. Most of us...including me don't have time to read a 72 page document on an analysis of the benefits of renewable energy.

However, your wind farm article caught my eye because it popped up on my Facebook page. My question to you is this (and this question is not an attack on you, I am simply a sceptic trying to analyse the benefits of energy production through windfarms). Can you explain to me how the benefits of a windfarm outweigh the negative environmental impacts? Wind farms are known for negative impacts on the bird population. They also have negative aesthetic impacts to the environment. I only pose my questions this way because I am an urban planner and I do lots of CEQA documents. Lately there have been more and more development applications on my desk for wind farms. I'm trying to educate myself on the facts so I can scrutinize these proposals more closely.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Tricia
Ernest R. on February 06, 2010

I am really amazed in Wind Farms. I think Wind energy is an economical power resource and does not produce air or water pollution. So for me, it is really great!

Energy Idealist - Renewable Energy Jobs
mikeg on February 09, 2010

@Tricia S.,

The obvious answer to your question about "how the benefits of a windfarm outweigh the negative environmental impacts" is that windfarms are producing clean renewable electricity while also reducing demand of dirty, fossil-fueled power plants. This has an obvious net benefit for the entire world, whereas the negative environmental impacts of a windfarm are all localized and hence smaller in scale and easier to control.

The American Wind Energy Association has some good info you might want to look into, much of which might be useful to you as an urban planner:

http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_environment.html#What%20are%20wind%20powers%20other%20environmental%20impacts

Hope that helps. I'm trying to get more thorough answers to your question from our issue experts, and I'll let you know if/when I have anything for you.

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