GreenEnergyForEarth.com – Alternative Energy News and Green Products

Jan 27, 2010 – Jad Mouawad reports in The New York Times that “Despite a crippling recession and tight credit markets, the American wind power industry grew at a blistering pace in 2009, adding 39% more capacity. The country is close to the point where 2% of its electricity will come from wind turbines.  While that is still a small share, it is up from virtually nothing a few years ago. Continued growth at such a fast pace could help the nation lower its emissions of the gases that cause global warming.  The American Wind Energy Association said the amount of capacity added last year, 9,900 megawatts, was the largest on record, and was 18% above the capacity added in 2008, also a banner year.

The group said the growth of wind power was helped by the federal stimulus package that passed a year ago, which extended a tax credit and provided other investment incentives for the industry.  But the group warned that the growth could slow. Much of the wind development in 2009 was caused by momentum from 2008, as huge turbines ordered then were delivered to wind farms. In 2009, the recession idled many manufacturers and new orders weakened, which could portend an installation slowdown this year.”

Last year, China also outlined plans to more than double the country’s wind capacity by the end of this year by investing $14.6 billion, with rapid growth planned through the end of the decade.  Concerns about global warming have sparked interest in renewable power in the United States and spurred the creation of a domestic manufacturing industry that now employs 85,000 people. Today, about half the components used in wind farms are made in the United States, compared with 25%  in 2004, the trade group said.

The nation’s wind turbines generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 9.7 million homes, according to the report. Last year, Texas consolidated its lead as the nation’s top wind producer, with a total capacity of 9,410 megawatts, about three times more than the second-largest producer, Iowa. They were followed by California, Washington and Minnesota.”

Read the full article in The New York Times.

Photo courtesy & © Siemens