Growth of Wind Power

Jerome has an extended post over at the Oil Drum on the highly informative Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power by the The Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

Here the latest numbers on new and total installations:



The United States, the sleeping giant, awakes, with 27% growth in 2006. A trend that I expect to accelerate over the coming years given the economic competitiveness of wind power. The role of wind power in India (42% growth) and China (106% growth) is also encouraging.

Here is where the rubber hits the road. What part does wind energy play in overall electricity generation? By country:



Denmark is the size of a medium-sized postage stamp, so it is easy dismiss the 20+% number. This is not so easy with Germany, which still has a significant manufacturing base (famous for car production, but there is also a lot of heavy machinery production). 7% is a substantial number and current growth rates for wind energy imply that this percentage goes up by almost a point every year.

The U.S. number is also instructive. Wind energy has almost reached respectability and cannot anymore denied as exotic fringe. Of course this is done anyway.