July 23, 2008
According to estimates for the first half of 2008 from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the first US has passed Germany to become the world’s biggest generator of wind power.
The U.S. is still running behind Germany in total installed capacity, because its average wind speed is significantly stronger. The total capacity of wind installations in Germany was 22,000 megawatts in 2007, compared with 17,000 megawatts in the U.S.
The AWEA says the country could well take the world lead in installed capacaity as well by the end of this year. “We expect to come out with a detailed analysis within the next few weeks,” said Randall Swisher, the AWEA’s executive director.
Interest in wind power has been growing. More than 13,000 people turned out for this year’s AWEA annual conference – an 85 percent increase over last year. Earlier this month, billionaire oilman T.Boone Pickens, unveiled the “Pickens Plan”, which calls on the US to use wind power to generate the 22 percent of its electricity now drawn from natural gas – freeing that fuel to be used for transportation. Despite the growing interest and milestones passed, wind meets only about 1 percent of the current US energy demand. Mr. Pickens says building wind facilities from Texax to North Dakota could produce 20 percent of electricity used by the US at a cost of $1,000bn.
It would take another $200bn to build capacity to transmit that energy to urban areas across the country. “That’s a lot of money, but it’s a one-time cost,” he said. “And, compared with the $700bn we spend on foreign oil every year, it’s a bargain.”
Source: http://www.windenergynews.com/content/view/1366/43/
According to estimates for the first half of 2008 from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the first US has passed Germany to become the world’s biggest generator of wind power.
The U.S. is still running behind Germany in total installed capacity, because its average wind speed is significantly stronger. The total capacity of wind installations in Germany was 22,000 megawatts in 2007, compared with 17,000 megawatts in the U.S.
The AWEA says the country could well take the world lead in installed capacaity as well by the end of this year. “We expect to come out with a detailed analysis within the next few weeks,” said Randall Swisher, the AWEA’s executive director.
Interest in wind power has been growing. More than 13,000 people turned out for this year’s AWEA annual conference – an 85 percent increase over last year. Earlier this month, billionaire oilman T.Boone Pickens, unveiled the “Pickens Plan”, which calls on the US to use wind power to generate the 22 percent of its electricity now drawn from natural gas – freeing that fuel to be used for transportation. Despite the growing interest and milestones passed, wind meets only about 1 percent of the current US energy demand. Mr. Pickens says building wind facilities from Texax to North Dakota could produce 20 percent of electricity used by the US at a cost of $1,000bn.
It would take another $200bn to build capacity to transmit that energy to urban areas across the country. “That’s a lot of money, but it’s a one-time cost,” he said. “And, compared with the $700bn we spend on foreign oil every year, it’s a bargain.”
Source: http://www.windenergynews.com/content/view/1366/43/
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