A new report from the U.S. Department of Energy shows a wind industry making large, positive strides in the country's energy market.
David Roberts details the findings of the annual Wind Technologies Market Report, recently released by the US Department of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
"With 73,992 MW, the US is now the No. 2 country in the world in installed wind capacity (after China, which has a mind-boggling 145,053 MW). And we are No. 1 in actual wind electricity generated," writes Roberts.
Despite the good news, the United States still has a long way to go for wind power to represent a majority, or even a plurality, of the energy market. "All that wind only provides about 5.6 percent of US electricity, though, which puts us well behind leaders like Denmark (40 percent), Portugal, Ireland, and Spain (between 20 and 30 percent)," notes Roberts.
Roberts also examines three themes for the good news for the wind industry, with a lot more detail on each:
- Wind power is getting cheaper
- Wind turbines are getting better
- Wind installations are blowing up
For more on the changing landscape of U.S. energy production, see also recent articles about the growing impacts of natural gas and the diminishing footprint of coal.
Read the full story: Bigger, better, cheaper: wind power is flourishing in the US
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