Eco-Economy Indicator – WIND POWER
June 28, 2006
Eco-Economy Indicators are the twelve trends the Earth Policy Institute tracks to measure progress in building an environmentally sustainable economy—an eco-economy. Wind electric generating capacity is an indicator because wind is poised to become the foundation of the new energy economy.
Global Wind Power Expands in 2006
Joseph Florence
Global wind electricity-generating capacity increased by 24 percent in 2005 to 59,100 megawatts. This represents a twelvefold increase from a decade ago when world wind-generating capacity stood at less than 5,000 megawatts.
Wind is the world’s fastest-growing energy source, with an average annual growth rate of 29 percent over the last ten years. In contrast, over the same time period, coal use has grown by 2.5 percent per year, nuclear power by 1.8 percent, natural gas by 2.5 percent, and oil by 1.7 percent.
Learn More About Wind Energy and the New Energy Economy
More information on wind energy deployment in the United States is available from ACS Publications.
And for more information on restructuring the global energy economy, read The Great Transition by Lester Brown
