What did the Wind Say to Coal?
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 07.28.07
"You're Fired!" The bad joke and the good news are thanks to Worldwatch Institute. In their latest Vital Signs Update, Worldwatch reports that global wind power capacity increased 26% in 2006, with the addition of 15,200 megawatts worldwide. According to the report, "The 43 million tons of carbon dioxide displaced in 2006 is equivalent to the emissions of 7,200 megawatts of coal-fired power plants, or nearly 8 million passenger cars."
Worldwatch lists the top countries for wind power generation as Germany, Spain, and the United States--totally about 60% of global capacity. But fast growth is foreseen in India and Asia, led by China. The race is on, and TreeHuggers hope that the winner will be...mankind.
Will the baton be handed off soon to next generation technologies like the magnetic levitation turbine?
Mag-lev was touted by Chinese developers at Wind Power Asia Exhibition 2006 in Beijing. A year later, a colossal levitating turbine is envisioned by Arizona-based company, MagLev Wind Turbine Technologies.
Some debate challenges Worldwatch's numbers, an interesting link for anyone making case studies of denialist mentality. Do people really buy into the argument that because wind power alone cannot solve the CO2 problem, it is "pathetic"?
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I buy renewable (wind) energy for my 4 unit apartment building (8 residents), and this month, the surcharge for the green power was all of $0.37 on a $115 bill.
Sorry to be such a pedant but what capacity factor do they use in these calculations (to get from capacity, in MW, to energy produced, in MWh)?
After all even within the UK they range from 19% (Dagenham Ford factory) to nearly 40% (predicted, off the NW coast)
===author's note===
"Calculations are based on U.S. data: average capacity factor for new wind power capacity (34%, from American Wind Energy Association); average capacity factor for coal-fired power plants (72%, from North American Electric Reliability Council - NAERC); average CO2 emissions from U.S. coal-fired power plants (0.95 kg/kWh, from U.S. Energy Information Administration); and average coal-fired power plant capacity (318 megawatts, from NAERC)."