New research done at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory concludes there is enough energy potential in winds to meet all of the world's demand. Using models, the research team determined that more than 400 terrawatts of power could be generated from surface winds and more than 1,800 terrawatts could be generated from winds throughout the atmosphere.
The world currently uses about 18 TW of power, which means near-surface wind energy technology could provide more than 20 times today's global power demand, and wind turbines on kites higher in the atmosphere could potentially capture 100 times the current demand.
The study found that the climate effects of producing enough wind energy to accommodate worldwide consumption would be small, as long as the turbines were widely distributed and not clustered in just a few regions. At current consumption rates, the researchers estimated wind turbines might affect surface temperatures by about 0.1 degree Celsius and precipitation by about 1%. Read more...
A second study done at Stanford University reached similar conclusions about wind energy's overall potential but also highlighted reasons why powering the world with wind may not be practical. These include high startup costs, fossil fuel subsidies and cheap natural gas. Other scientists have cited cost and lack of transmission infrastructure as being major constraints on wind energy's role in worldwide power provision. Read more...
The world currently uses about 18 TW of power, which means near-surface wind energy technology could provide more than 20 times today's global power demand, and wind turbines on kites higher in the atmosphere could potentially capture 100 times the current demand.
The study found that the climate effects of producing enough wind energy to accommodate worldwide consumption would be small, as long as the turbines were widely distributed and not clustered in just a few regions. At current consumption rates, the researchers estimated wind turbines might affect surface temperatures by about 0.1 degree Celsius and precipitation by about 1%. Read more...
A second study done at Stanford University reached similar conclusions about wind energy's overall potential but also highlighted reasons why powering the world with wind may not be practical. These include high startup costs, fossil fuel subsidies and cheap natural gas. Other scientists have cited cost and lack of transmission infrastructure as being major constraints on wind energy's role in worldwide power provision. Read more...
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