Renewable energy is the future of energy as the world increasingly moves towards replacing fossil fuels which are dirty and cause pollution. Among the sources of renewable energy, the adoption of wind energy is growing rapidly. In the US, the Biden Administration announced major policy changes today to jumpstart offshore energy projects to further champion green energy initiatives and also boost the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector. Overseas, some countries in Europe such as Denmark and the UK are already ahead of the US in the use of wind energy. With that brief overview, let’s take a look at xx fascinating facts about wind energy below:
1.The height of wind turbines have been growing over the years. The next generation wind turbines due online in 2025 are projected to be 300 m (or 984 feet) tall. This is astonishing indeed ! These will be built by Siemens(SIEGY) of Germany and Vestas Wind Systems(VWDRY) of Denmark.
2.The evolution of wind turbine height and capacity is shown below:
Click to enlarge
3.The blades of the next generation wind turbines will be longer the wingspan of Airbus 380. And they will generate 13-15 MW of electricity.
4.To put the height in perspective, the world’s largest windmill is only 33 meters tall. It stands in Schiedam in the Netherlands and was built in 1803 for the gin industry.
5.Texas is the fifth largest producer of wind power in the world after India.
6.We can boldly say Texas has “Gone with the Wind” since wind energy accounted for 22% of the total energy production in 2019 in the state.
7. Wind energy accounts for more than 30% of total electricity production in Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma.
8. In 2019, wind was the largest renewable energy source in the US.
9.A typical wind turbine has more than 8,000 components.
10.Higher wind speeds mean more electricity. Hence wind turbines are getting taller and taller in height where its more windier than the ground level.
Sources:
The stunning statistics of sustainable investing, Robeco
Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Wind Power, EIA
Disclosure: No positions
