10 Wind Energy Stories {Weekly Round-Up}

July 13th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

Some more wind energy news from around the internet from the past week or so.

1. Global Wind Power Capacity to Triple by 2017?

Wind power has been growing at a tremendous rate in the past few years, and that is expected to continue in the coming years, since it is one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) option for new electricity production. Pike Research is now predicting that wind power capacity will triple by 2017, from 194.3 GW in 2010 to 562.9 GW in 2017. [Wind Today]

2. France Going to Invest 14 Billion Euros on 3 GW of Offshore Wind Power by 2020

France recently announced that it is putting a 100% ban on natural gas shale fracking. Now, rather than pour its money into more harmful coal and not-so-popular nuclear, it is looking to invest a ton in wind power. To expand offshore wind power capacity alone, it is putting in 14 billion euros ($19.7 billion) by 2020. [SFgate/Bloomberg]

3. Wind Power Could Supply 50% of EU Electricity by 2050

Wind power, as I just mentioned above, is exploding in growth and expected to continue doing so for awhile. The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) just released a new report showing that 50% of the EU’s electricity needs could be met by wind power by 2050. [EWEA]

4. Wind Analytics Start-Up Setting Up Shop in Brooklyn

Wind Analytics is a wind.. analytics start-up now headquartered in Brooklyn. The fresh, new firm is filling a data and analysis gap that is needed for propelling the wind industry even further into the energy lead. [AOL]

5. North Carolina Governor Propels State Forward on Offshore Wind (not Offshore Oil)

NC Governor Bev Perdue (D) signed an executive order creating the “Offshore Wind Economic Development Task Force” recently, while also vetoing a bill focused on increasing offshore oil and gas drilling and fracking. Perdue’s policies are focused on creating jobs in the state and tackling the societal hazards of oil and gas. [Think Progress]

6. Wind Power Much Better for Your Health than Other Options

Leading scientist David Suzuki recently spelled out for all those naysayers the fact that wind power is much better for our health than competing power options. Of course, this is intuitive, but with a strong backlash to wind power, we need more pieces like this to keep people from getting confused. [Huffington Post]

7. Wind Power Output Could be Increased 10x by Better Positioning of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines?

A study out of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has found that to be the case, and also found they would have an even smaller effect on the environment. The study was published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. [Yale Environment 360]

8. Wind Turbines Getting Huge, & Other Advancements

Well, if the findings above don’t change the course of things, projections are that wind turbines are going to get pretty big. As we’ve reported previously, there are projects out there for 10-MW wind turbines already! More than just making bigger turbines, though, wind technology is advancing in a number of ways. [Clean Break] [MIT Technology Review]

9. Mexico is Investing $2.5 Billion in New Wind Farms

When you think of Mexico, you probably don’t think of wind farms, but it has some good wind resources (as well as solar resources) and is looking to make some big strides in the clean energy field as well. The country announced last week that it is dropping $2.5 billion on 300-MW worth of wind farms. The country generates about 500 MW in total now, but Mexican President Felipe Calderon plans to increase that to 2000 MW by the end of his next term, next year. [Reuters]

10. Kansas Town Blown Away by Tornado Now Taking Advantage of the Wind

While Greensburg, KS has had some encounters with tornadoes it would rather forget, some locals got inspiration from that tremendously powerful wind and made a wind energy hub out of it. [Huffington Post]

More stories? Drop them in the comments below.

Comments to share? Chime in.

Photo via nualabugeye









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