The Difference Wind Makes
Wind power is a reality today, the Department of Energy has reported that wind power has the ability to produce 20% of our nations electricity by the year 2030. Wind is currently providing less than 2% of our nation’s electricity.
Once approved, wind farms can be built quickly to respond to electricity demand. And wind is “inflation-proof;” once a wind plant is built, the cost of energy is known and is not affected by the changing price of fuel.
With long-term, stable policies, wind energy will provide a steadily growing share of U.S. electricity and revitalize farms and rural communities – without consuming any natural resources or emitting any pollution or greenhouse gases.
Wind energy works for our energy security, economy and environment.
Facts and Figures: Energy
13 billion |
Cubic feet per day (Bcf/day) of natural gas for electricity generation the U.S. currently burns |
200 |
Types of data, including wind speeds, oil temperature and voltage dips on the grid, processed by modern wind turbines equipped with high-tech computers and power electronics |
10-25 |
Percent of electricity generated from wind power in Denmark and some regions of Spain and Germany |
20 |
Percent of the nation’s electricity that the Department of Energy says wind energy can provide |
20,000 |
Megawatts (MW) of wind power plants in place in the U.S. today, serving the equivalent of 5.3 million average households |
22,000 |
MW of wind power plants AWEA expects to be placed in the U.S. by the end of 2008, which can serve the equivalent of over 5.5 million average households |
Facts and Figures: The Economy
10,000 |
Jobs created by the new tower, blade, turbine and assembly plants opened in 2007 in Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin, as well as the seven other facilities that were announced in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, New York, Texas and Oklahoma in 2008 |
1 |
Large (108-turbine, 162-MW) project in rural Prowers County, Colorado, which increased the county’s tax base by 29%, adding annual payments of about $917,000 to the general school fund, $203,000 to the school bond fund, $189,000 to a county medical center, and $764,000 in new county revenues, as well as 15-20 permanent and well-paying full-time jobs at the wind farm |
100 billion |
Amount (in dollars) of consumer expenditures saved by substituting 15% of traditional energy for renewable energy resources by 2020 [through a Federal renewable electric standard], according to a 2007 analysis from global energy consulting firm Wood Mackenzie |
Facts and Figures: The Environment
75 million |
Barrels of oil each year that would be needed to generate the same amount of electricity as today’s U.S. wind turbine fleet (16,818 MW) |
23 million |
Tons of coal (a line of 10-ton trucks over 9,000 miles long) each year that would be needed to generate the same amount of electricity as today’s U.S. wind turbine fleet (16,818 MW) |
28 million |
Tons of carbon dioxide prevented by the generation of wind in 2007 |
3-8 |
Months of “energy payback time” (a measure of how long a power plant must operate to generate the amount of electricity required for its manufacture and construction) of a wind project, which is one of the shortest of any generation technology |
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