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It was a banner year for wind-energy in 2008, with the U.S. installing enough wind turbines to power two million homes and surpassing Germany to become the country with the most capability of generating power from wind. But can the U.S. remain in the lead in the midst of the recession?

A report released Monday by two wind-power advocacy organizations—the Brussels-based Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Washington, D.C.'s American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)—showed that the U.S. doubled its capacity to create wind power last year. Meanwhile, a clean-energy analyst at investment bank Jeffries & Co., Michael McNamara, told Reuters that the U.S. will become the world's top solar producer this year. (Update [Feb. 6]: McNamara tells us today that the statement attributed to him wasn't quite right. "The U.S. will likely be the biggest producer of solar power in the future," he said.) More than 1,000 megawatts in solar power capacity were installed in the U.S. last year, says Monique Hanis, a spokesperson for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

So how to explain the slump in wind and solar installations reported in today's New York Times? Factories that manufacture turbine and panel components are laying off workers, and installations could fall by 30 to 50 percent, according to the Times report.

The GWEC and AWEA report was based on all of last year's wind projects: In 2007 and last year, more than 70 wind-power facilities opened or expanded; of those, 55 were in 2008, says Christine Real de Azua, an AWEA spokesperson. The problem now is that buying and installing turbines and solar panels requires lots of capital, and few investors are lending because of the credit crisis, Hanis and Real de Azua tell ScientificAmerican.com. Available tax credits for developers aren’t an incentive when they don’t have the revenue, they add.

"Because these are capital-intensive industries, 2009 is not going to be as good a year as 2008," Real de Azua says.

The stalled projects are a concern for the industry, because while the U.S. may have  plenty of alt-power-generating capability, clean energy still accounts for a fraction of the electricity produced. Less than 1 percent of U.S. energy comes from solar, according to SEIA. Between 1.5 and 2 percent of U.S. power comes from wind, Real de Azua says, compared with more than 20 percent of Denmark's electricity.

The U.S. has the ability to catch up with Denmark by 2030, according to a Department of Energy report (to which AWEA contributed) released last year. And clean energy, a platform of President Obama's administration, could get a boost in the economic stimulus package: The House version of the bill would allow companies to either use the tax credit or apply for a federal grant to get financing for wind farms or solar projects. The Senate version doesn’t contain that provision.

"There has been a lot of demand for wind as a new source of energy, but they [developers] need the financing to reach the finish line," Real de Azua says. "A lot will depend on the policies put in place, especially the stimulus bill. If it's well crafted, that will make a difference."

Image © iStockphoto/Stephen Strathdee

3 Comments

1. 1. Artu 09:46 AM 2/5/09

   I recently read a proposal on nuclear power generation that encouraged using state of the art standardized components to build nuclear plants to reduce construction costs and increase construction speed. Another recommendation encouraged recycling the waste from the plants to generate additional energy rather then sending it directly to the dump. Another suggestion a government sponsored 50 million dollar award for a solution to sequestering spent nuclear waste safely. Another individual suggest the Obama administration slash the red tape hampering plant construction and implement a program to build at least one NPP in each state in the union within ten yeas. All superb suggestions that if implemented could put people to work in every state, foster American creativity, slash CO2 emissions, protect our coast lines and national preserves, disengage the USA from international oil extortion, put our power grid on a solid platform for the 21 century, supply the electricity necessary to charge a national fleet of hybrid electric cars and reinvigorate the capitol markets with a safe haven for private investment in a government backed program. To achieve this like minded people must relentlessly get the word out and even more difficult; overcome the oil lobby.

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2. 2. David M. Clemen 01:29 PM 2/7/09

   Although windpower only produces 1% of the U.S. electricity, it is a valuable renewable energy supply. However, hydroelectric power currently produces 7% of the U.S. electricity; and it is also a valuable renewable energy resource that not only produces electricity on demand (versus wind energy's 30% availability, or when the wind blows), but can also provide irrigation, municipal drinking supplies, and flood control with its dams.
   Hydroelectric power is perceived as very valuable by the rest of the world, and is therefore utilized to produce 17% of the world's electricity; the same amount as nuclear power. However, in the U.S., it has been denigrated by the environmental lobbies because of its association with large dams.
   There are currently 80,000 existing dams in the U.S. used for irrigation, drinking water supplies, flood control, etc. etc.; however, only 3% of these dams are used to produce electrical power (Reference Hydro Review magazine, Sept 2006, "National Inventory of Dams". If some federal impetus was given to utilizing our "existing" dams to produce electricity, another 30,000 MW could be produced (about 30 nuclear plants) without building any new dams. This would be a renewable source of power with "zero" Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
   And one final point, the firm which I previously worked for (I'm retired) is presently building 300 MW of power plants on the Ohio River utilizing the existing Lock & Dams (called run-of-river hydro). These plants utilize the existing lock & dams (no large dam structures), and the natural flow of the river to produce electricity. Why can't we produce more electrical power in this manner. There are 26 Lock & Dams on the Mississippi River, and none of these are utilized to produce electricity.

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3. 3. Artu in reply to David M. Clemen 11:13 AM 2/8/09

   Dear Mr. Clemen your suggestion is truly superb. You provided yet another energy production option to our country which has many upsides and few down sides. Unfortunately it faces the same road blocks nuclear power faces: the oil and coal lobby, rigid environmentalists and the lack of powerful advocacy.

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