Part III: Wind

Harnessing the wind is one of the cleanest, most sustainable ways to generate electricity. Wind power produces no toxic emissions and none of the heat trapping emissions that contribute to global warming. This, and the fact that wind power is one of the most abundant and increasingly cost-competitive energy resources, makes it a viable alternative to the fossil fuels that harm our health and threaten the environment.
Wind energy is the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. Global installations in 2005 reached more than 11,500 megawatts (MW)–a 40.5 percent increase in annual additions compared with 2004–representing $14 billion in new investments. In the United States, a record 2,431 MW of wind power was installed in 2005, capable of producing enough electricity to power 650,000 typical homes. Despite this rapid growth, wind power is still a relatively small part of our electricity supply–generating less than one percent of both the and global electricity mix. But thanks to its many benefits, and significantly reduced costs, wind power is poised to play a major role as we move toward a sustainable energy future.

Wind power is both old and new. From the sailing ships of the ancient Greeks, to the grain mills of pre-industrial Holland, to the latest high-tech wind turbines rising over the Minnesota prairie, humans have used the power of the wind for millennia. In the United States, the original heyday of wind was between 1870 and 1930, when thousands of farmers across the country used wind to pump water. Small electric wind turbines were used in rural areas as far back as the 1920s, and prototypes of larger machines were built in the 1940s. When the New Deal brought grid-connected electricity to the countryside, however, windmills lost out.

Interest in wind power was reborn during the energy crises of the 1970s. Research by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in the 1970s focused on large turbine designs, with funding going to major aerospace manufacturers. While these 2- and 3-MW machines proved mostly unsuccessful at the time, they did provide basic research on blade design and engineering principles. The modern wind era began in California in the 1980s. Between 1981 and 1986, small companies and entrepreneurs installed 15,000 medium-sized turbines, providing enough power for every resident of San Francisco. Pushed by the high cost of fossil fuels, a moratorium on nuclear power, and concern about environmental degradation, the state provided tax incentives to promote wind power. These, combined with federal tax incentives, helped the wind industry take off. After the tax credits expired in 1985, wind power continued to grow, although more slowly. Perhaps more important in slowing wind power's growth was the decline in fossil fuel prices that occurred in the mid-1980s.

In the early 1990s, improvements in technology resulting in increased turbine reliability and lower costs of production provided another boost for wind development. In addition, concern about global warming and the first Gulf War lead Congress to pass the Energy Policy Act of 1992–comprehensive energy legislation that included a new production tax credit for wind and biomass electricity. However, shortly thereafter, the electric utility industry began to anticipate a massive restructuring, where power suppliers would become competitors rather than protected monopolies. Investment in new power plants of all kinds fell drastically, especially for capital-intensive renewable energy technologies like wind. America's largest wind company, Kenetech, declared bankruptcy in 1995, a victim of the sudden slowdown. It wasn’t until 1998 that the wind industry began to experience continuing growth in the United States, thanks in large part to federal tax incentives, state-level renewable energy requirements and incentives, and–beginning in 2001–rising fossil fuel prices.

In other parts of the world, particularly in Europe, wind has had more consistent, long-term support. As a result, European countries are currently capable of meeting more of their electricity demands through wind power with much less land area and resource potential compared with the United States. Denmark, for example, already meets about 20 percent of its electricity demand from wind power. Wind generation also accounts for about six percent of the national power needs in Spain, and five percent in Germany. Serious commitments to reducing global warming emissions, local development, and the determination to avoid fuel imports have been the primary drivers of wind power development.

The Wind Resource
The wind resource–how fast it blows, how often, and when–plays a significant role in its power generation cost. The power output from a wind turbine rises as a cube of wind speed. In other words, if wind speed doubles, the power output increases eight times. Therefore, higher-speed winds are more easily and inexpensively captured.

Wind speeds are divided into seven classes–with class one being the lowest, and class seven being the highest. A wind resource assessment evaluates the average wind speeds above a section of land (usually 50 meters high), and assigns that area a wind class. Wind turbines operate over a limited range of wind speeds. If the wind is too slow, they won't be able to turn, and if too fast, they shut down to avoid being damaged. Wind speeds in classes three (6.7 – 7.4 meters per second (m/s)) and above are typically needed to economically generate power. Ideally, a wind turbine should be matched to the speed and frequency of the resource to maximize power production.


link to all about wind energy and charts


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Wind power is capable of becoming a major contributor to America’s electricity supply over the next three decades, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy. The groundbreaking report, 20% or more if a monumental effort is put forward for Wind Energy by 2030 or sooner: Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply, looks closely at one scenario for reaching 20% wind energy by 2030 and contrasts it to a scenario of no new U.S. wind power capacity.

This DOE report includes contributions from
• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) − Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), and Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) − National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) − Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) − Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Black & Veatch engineering and consulting firm American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) − Leading wind manufacturers and suppliers − Developers and electric utilities − Others in the wind industry
Wind power can play a major role in meeting America's increasing demand for electricity, according to a groundbreaking technical report, 20% Wind Energy by2030: Increasing Wind Energy's Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply, prepared
by the U.S. Department of Energy with contributions from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the American Wind Energy Association, Black & Veatch and others from the energy sector.

The report explores one scenario for reaching 20% wind electricity by 2030 and contrasts it to a scenario in which no new U.S. wind power capacity is installed. It examines costs, major impacts and challenges associated with the 20% Wind Scenario. It investigates
requirements and outcomes in the areas of technology, manufacturing, transmission and integration, markets, environment
and siting. The report finds that the Nation possesses affordable wind energy resources far in excess of those needed to enable a 20%
scenario.

To implement the 20% Wind Scenario, new wind power installations would increase to more than 16,000 MW per year by 2018, and
continue at that rate through 2030, as shown in Figure A. Wind plant costs and performance are projected to improve modestly over the
next two decades, but no technological breakthroughs are needed. In the 20% wind scenario, 46 states would experience significant wind
power development.

The report finds that, during the decade preceding 2030, the U.S. wind industry could: support roughly 500,000 jobs in the U.S., with an annual average of more than 150,000 workers directly employed by the wind industry; support more than 100,000 jobs in associated industries (e.g., accountants, lawyers, steel workers, and electrical manufacturing);

support more than 200,000 jobs through economic expansion based on local spending; increase annual property tax revenues to more than $1.5 billion by 2030; and increase annual payments to rural landowners to more than $600 million in 2030. Using more domestic wind power will diversify the nation's energy portfolio — adding wind-generated electricity at stable prices not subject to market volatility
— and strengthening national energy security through reduced reliance on foreign sources of natural gas. The 20% Wind Scenario would alter U.S. electricity generation as shown in Figure B. In this scenario, wind would supply enough energy to displace about 50% of
electric utility natural gas consumption by 2030. This amounts to an 11% reduction in natural gas across all industries. Also, coal consumption would be reduced by 18%. In addition, electric utilities are learning how to accommodate wind's variability while maintaining system reliability.


Carbon dioxide (CO ) is the principal GHG in the earth's atmosphere. Approximately 40% of total U.S. CO emissions come from power generation facilities. Since substantial amounts of coal and natural gas fuels would be displaced, the 20% Wind Scenario could
reduce CO emissions in 2030 by 825 million metric tons – 25% of the CO emissions from the nation's electric sector in the no-new-wind scenario. As shown in Figure C, this reduction could nearly level projected growth in CO emissions from electricity generation.

The report examines siting issues and effects that an increase in wind power facilities may have on compatible land uses,
water use, aesthetics, and wildlife habitats. Wind energy avoids many of the undesirable environmental impacts from
other forms of electricity production, such as impacts from fuel mining, transport and waste management.

Unlike fossil-fuel and nuclear generation, which use significant quantities of water for power plant cooling, wind
power generation consumes no water during operations. Generating 20% of U.S. electricity from wind would reduce
water consumption in the electric sector in 2030 by 17%.

Costs incurred by the 20% Wind Scenario exceed those of theno-new-wind scenario by about 2%. Although the 20% wind
scenario would incur higher initial capital costs, a large portion of those costs would be offset by $155 billion in lower
fuel expenditures. The estimated incremental investment would be $43 billion (net-present-value basis; 2006$). This corresponds to about
0.06¢/kWh of total generation, or about 50¢ per month for the average household. These monetary costs do not reflect other potential offsetting positive impacts. Major challenges along the 20% Wind Scenario path include these:

Investment in the nation's transmission system is needed so that the electricity generated is delivered to urban centers that need the increased supply; Developing larger electric load balancing areas, in tandem with better regional planning, are needed so that regions can depend on a diversity of generation sources, including wind power;

Significant growth is needed in the manufacturing supply chain, providing jobs and remedy the current shortage in parts for wind turbines; Continued reduction in wind capital cost and improvement in turbine performance through technology advancement and improved manufacturing capabilities is needed; and Addressing potential concerns about local siting, wildlife, and environmental issues
within the context of generating electricity is needed.

The 20% Wind Scenario is not likely to be realized in a business-as-usual future. Achieving this scenario would involve a major national commitment to clean, domestic energy sources with minimal emissions of GHGs and other environmental pollutants.

Tomorrow is Part IV: Solar. Have A Nice Sunday!!