Wind Energy | Green Living Ideas

The Future of US Wind Power

Posted on Jun 04, 2010 by Jennifer Lance.

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It’s amazing to think that wind power could actually be on the decline when the alternative energy sector seems to be just taking off in the United States. Wind power generation broke records in 2009 with 9.8 GW of new installation; however, this expansion of growth is slowing down dramatically as favorable sites are already taken and energy consumption has dropped in the US creating less demand.
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Coal Really 8 Cents per kwh Including Hidden Health Costs

Posted on Apr 14, 2010 by Susan Kraemer.

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After years of unfunded delay, a study by the National Research Council was recently unveiled that compares the hidden costs of energy from oil, natural gas and coal, looking mostly at the health costs from air pollution.

The report was of interest to congress as it continues the battle begun in 2007 to pass climate and energy legislation that might be finally presented as soon as Earth Day, April 22.

Congress asked for the health cost comparison in kilowatt hours, to compensate accurately for the failure of the market to include such hidden costs.

The report found an external cost of 3.2 cents per kilowatt hour - just for health damages alone – for coal. This would almost double the real cost of coal-powered electricity.

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USA Could Generate 37 Million Gigawatt-hours From Wind

Posted on Feb 22, 2010 by Susan Kraemer.

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The newest and by far the most scientifically accurate and detailed estimate to date of the nation’s wind power potential has just been published by the NREL in Colorado, in conjunction with AWS Truewind.

Back in 1993; when turbines were smaller and less powerful, and computers were less able to calculate wind speeds over smaller areas, the NREL calculated the potential at about one third of this. The first comprehensive calculation has just been completed. With current technology, the US has enough wind potential to generate 37 million Gigawatt-hours of electricity from wind every year: enough to provide more than 12 times what we use each year.

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Home Wind Power for Half the Price, Over the Counter

Posted on Feb 03, 2010 by Derek Markham.

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For commercial renewable energy enthusiasts, there’s no shortage of eye candy among industrial sized wind installations, but for the homeowner, the closest they get to feeling like they’re really generating clean energy might be the ‘Powered by the Wind’ sticker they get from their local utility when purchasing the wind power option for electricity. But that could change very soon, because a major retail store, Ace Hardware, will soon be selling a very cool new home wind turbine at half the installed price of a traditional turbine.
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