Wind power 39% of new energy installed here in 2009

(Photo of wind turbines in Kansas from Flickr and photographer Brent Danley)

Wind energy provided 39% of the new power in the U.S. in 2009, but still represents only a tiny part of total energy – 1.8%.

Wind advocates are asking Congress for a renewable energy standard (RES) that will speed up the use of new forms of energy like wind and solar.

So says the U.S. Wind Energy Association Annual Market Report, released last week.

Some highlights:

• 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity were installed in 2009, a record year. That’s enough to power 2.4 million homes.
• Texas leads with the most wind power, followed by Iowa, California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Colorado and North Dakota.
• Iowa leads with percent of power generated by wind, at 14%.
• About 85,000 people are employed in the wind industry here.
• 36 states have utility-scale wind projects.
• 10 new manufacturing facilities came on line to build wind equipment, 20 were planned, and 9 expanded. There are now 200 manufacturing plants on line.
• Wind provides about half the renewable energy in the U.S., followed by biomass and geothermal. Solar only generates 1%.
• Offshore wind power is coming of age, with 7 projects planned.
• Use of wind power is conserving about 20 billion gallons of water annually, which would be needed for cooling in conventional power plants.

The utility using the most wind power is Xcel Energy. The largest wind power owner is NextEra Energy Resources. And GE is the top turbine supplier in the U.S., followed by Vestas (Denmark), Siemens (Germany) and Mitsubishi (Japan).

More highlights and charts can be downloaded from the AWEA Web site. If you want more than highlights, a full report will cost you $550 at the AWEA store. I didn’t think so. Then you’ll have to make do with highlights.

See an interactive map of wind projects by state. You can click on your state for more detail.

(Sources: Greenwire, American Wind Energy Association)

Are Europe and Asia beating the U.S. at attracting clean energy investment and new energy jobs?

(Photo of Europea wind turbine factory from Flickr and photographer Jody Dickerson)

Is the U.S. economy losing out to Europe and Asia in the competition for a green energy future?

On the heels of my post last week about China hording rare earth minerals needed for clean energy production, I noticed with some concern three news items over the past few days:

*BP is closing its solar-panel plant in Maryland and moving the business to China, India or another country where production is cheaper and demand is higher. BP is partnering with Tata in India and SunOasis in China. The closure is the final step in moving BP’s U.S. solar manufacturing business abroad. It will mean 320 jobs lost, though 100 jobs will remain here in research and sales, the company says.

*GE said it is investing $453 million in European offshore wind through 2020, most of it in England and Germany. Norway and Sweden will also get a piece of the pie. The company hopes to mass produce its 4MW offshore turbine by 2012. Because Europe is moving ahead on both land and offshore wind, the biggest growth is seen there and suppliers are available. Billions have been spent on onshore wind in Europe over the past decade, with both Spain and Denmark now getting half their electricity from wind.

*Siemens, the international German-based conglomerate, with investments around the world, has targeted England for a $120 million factory for offshore wind turbines. England was chosen over Germany and Denmark because of government incentives in the form of a $90M competition. England is now 5th in renewable energy, tied with Spain.

Do I see a trend here?

(Source: Reuters, Washington Post, PlanetArk, Greenwire)