| Global wind energy potential is considerably above | | | | progression of wind power in China could permit an |
| previous estimates by both wind industry groups and | | | | 18-fold increase in electricity supply relative to |
| government departments, as outlined by a Harvard | | | | consumption reported for 2005," the Harvard study |
| University study published a week ago inside the | | | | said. |
| Proceedings on the National Academy of Sciences of | | | | The findings are "further validation of cures%u2019ve |
| the usa. | | | | been saying - that the us is the Saudi Arabia of wind," |
| The newest research surfaced just weeks after T. | | | | said Michael Goggin, an electricity industry analyst to |
| Boone Pickens, citing rising financing costs, scaled back | | | | the American Wind Energy Association. |
| his plans to the world's largest wind farm in west | | | | The authors based their calculations for the |
| Texas. | | | | deployment of two.five* to three*fantastic wind |
| Using data from many meteorological stations, the | | | | turbines situated either in accessible rural areas which |
| Harvard team estimated the globe wind power | | | | have been neither frozen nor forested, or relatively |
| potential to become 40 times greater than total current | | | | shallow offshore locations. Additionally they used a |
| power consumption. A previous study cited within the | | | | conservative 20 percent estimate for capacity factor, |
| paper put that multiple at about 7 times. | | | | a way of measuring simply how much energy a given |
| Within the lower 48 states, the possibility from wind | | | | turbine actually produces. |
| power is 16 times a lot more than total electricity | | | | In a good example of how renewable energy potential |
| demand in the usa, the study suggested - significantly | | | | could be a moving target, Mr. Goggin explained the |
| more than a 2008 United states doe study that | | | | growth in the forecasts might be related to the |
| projected wind could supply a fifth of electricity near | | | | increasingly common utilization of very large turbines |
| you by 2030. | | | | that rise to almost 100 meters. |
| While remote elements of Russia and Canada have | | | | Wind speeds are greater at higher elevations. Previous |
| the greatest theoretical potential, the Harvard study | | | | wind studies were based on the deployment of 50- to |
| remarked that there are real gains to be made in | | | | 80-meter turbines. |
| high-emission nations, especially China, which includes | | | | "As turbines get taller," predicts Mr. Goggin, "we'll see |
| been rapidly constructing coal plants. "Large-scale | | | | far more capitalization of the resource. |