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January 23, 2007

Wind Power Capacity in U.S. Increased 27% in 2006

AWEA Expects Growth in 2007 to Reach an Additional 26%
Washington, DC [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

Wind power-generating capacity increased by 27 percent in 2006 and is expected to increase an additional 26 percent in 2007, proving wind is now a mainstream option for new power generation in the U.S., according to a market forecast released today by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

"Extending the PTC five years will significantly increase the progress America is making in expanding its use of new forms of energy when they've never been needed more."

-- Randall Swisher, AWEA, Executive Director

The U.S. wind energy industry installed 2,454 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity in 2006, an investment of approximately $4 billion, billing wind as one of the largest sources of new power generation in the country -- second only to natural gas -- for the second year in a row. New wind farms boosted cumulative U.S. installed wind energy capacity by 27 percent to 11,603 MW, well above the 10,000-MW milestone reached in August 2006.

Wind power has attracted the support of state and federal government legislatures. The U.S. Congress recently extended the federal production tax credit (PTC) through December 2008 to further expand the number of wind farms throughout the U.S. Based on the success of the PTC to date, AWEA is calling for extending the provision an additional five years.

"Wind is a proven, cost-effective source of energy that also alleviates global warming and enhances our nation's energy security," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "The industry has demonstrated a generous return on the investment of both private and public investment in wind," said Swisher. "Extending the PTC five years will significantly increase the progress America is making in expanding its use of new forms of energy when they've never been needed more."
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Reader Comments (6)
 
No image available
January 23, 2007
Are we in trouble of having too little carbon in the air?

There was enogh carbon in the air before humans and there will be enough carbon in the air after humans.
Comment 1 of 6
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January 23, 2007
The Wind Industry is growing, and I imagine that as vertical axis wind turbines mature, the industry can grow more rapidly as Distributed Generation with wind catches on. Propeller based Wind Energy Conversion Systems have problems of avian impact, noise, aesthetics, and the need for high wind speed areas. VAWT offer characteristics of the true "Urban Turbine" and Wind Farms will evolved into Wind Forests.
Comment 2 of 6
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January 23, 2007
The reason that the earth is warm has an environment that is warm enough to support is because of the existence of green house gases. The increase of green house gases has been shown to be raising average world temperatures, however one must consider that this increased level has taken hundreds of years to accumulate (since the Industrial Revolution).

There is a point when there would not be enough green house gases in the atmosphere but I think that we are a long ways away from that. There have been great strides in renewable energy, however when one looks at the amount of renewable energy produced in comparison to total energy consumed it is still a drop in the bucket. We need more renewables!
Comment 3 of 6
No image available
January 23, 2007
With world wide growth in wind and solar reducing carbon in the air, Are we in trouble of having too little carbon in the air?
Comment 4 of 6
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January 24, 2007
Are we in trouble of having too little carbon in the air?

That is sheer ignorance. We are way above what the historical figure is and even if all emissions from human activity were reduced to zero tomorrow -and thats never going to happen, we are still too high. The amount of RE energy in comparison to the totally globally is tiny.

It is good news to hear about the increase of US capacity, but we need this to be happening globally and we need similar results in the PV photovoltaic area too.
Comment 5 of 6
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January 25, 2007
"With world wide growth in wind and solar reducing carbon in the air, Are we in trouble of having too little carbon in the air?"

I had assumed that this was sarcasm, but, if not, Mr. Berry needs to keep in mind that wind turbines don't remove carbon from the atmosphere, they just allow us to reduce the amount that we are adding. Total North American installed capacity is still a tiny fraction of total generation capacity, let alone total energy used (including transportation, etc). What we really need to do is to increase the rate of increase - a couple of years of doubling installed capacity might put us on the right course.
Comment 6 of 6
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