New turbines, more wind energy power generation (global generating capacity grew 31% in 2009)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=3992

New turbines, more wind energy power generation

13 de febrero de 2010

The surging success of wind power is much talked about at the European Wind Energy Association, and it is not just rhetoric.

Last week, statistics emerged from all corners of the globe on the growth of new wind farms. In fact, in Europe, more wind turbines were erected in 2009 than gas, coal and nuclear power stations were built.

GWEC, the Global Wind Energy Council, reported that the world’s wind power-generating capacity grew by 31% in 2009. “The continued rapid growth of wind power despite the financial crisis and economic downturn is testament to the inherent attractiveness of the technology, which is clean, reliable and quick to install,” Steve Sawyer, GWEC’s Secretary General said.

In Europe, Spain was the leader in installing new wind farms – with a 24% growth compared to 2008. But the Spanish wind energy association, Asociacion Empresarial Eolica, warned that next year’s growth will be 60% down on 2009 due to cuts in the work force.

...

[happy_liberal]

1. great news!

:applause:

[NNadir]

2. Thirty-one percent of next to nothing is still next to nothing.

Humanity now consumes about 500 exajoules of electricity each year.

Wind and solar, after all this talk, can't produce one of them.

It would more impressive to increase by 5% of 5 exajoules, though I doubt that will ever happen.

[joshcryer]

5. Yes, it appears that it may take as much as 70 plus years to get us to zero carbon.

At the current rate.

[kristopher]

6. That is an extremely childish extrapolation by a nuclear power proponent

"...A third of these additions were made in China, which experienced yet another year of over 100% growth.
....“The continued rapid growth of wind power despite the financial crisis and economic downturn is testament to the inherent attractiveness of the technology, which is clean, reliable and quick to install. Wind power has become the power technology of choice a growing number of countries around the world,” said Steve Sawyer, GWEC’s Secretary General. “Copenhagen didn’t bring us any closer to a global price on carbon, but wind energy continued to grow due to national energy policy in our main markets and also because many governments in prioritised renewable energy development in their economic recovery plans,” he said."

- post #4 this thread

[bananas]

8. Right, it would be more like 25 years

A 30% growth rate means it doubles every 2-3 years.

At the current 30% growth rate, in 25 years there would be 1.3^25 times as many GW:
(1.3^25) * 38.7870479 = 27 369.7313 GW
or roughly 27 TW.

We only use about 15 TW now:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption

In 2008, total worldwide energy consumption was 474 exajoules (5×1020 J) with 80 to 90 percent derived from the combustion of fossil fuels.<1> This is equivalent to an average power consumption rate of 15 terawatts (1.504×1013 W). Not all of the world's economies track their energy consumption with the same rigor, and the exact energy content of a barrel of oil or a ton of coal will vary with quality.

So at current growth rate, wind would blow past our energy needs in 25 years.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. However, I don't believe we can count on exponential growth for 25 years

I'd love to see it, but it seems unlikely.

[bananas]

9. No, it would be 25 years.

At the current rate of 30% yearly growth, it would be about 25 years.

[FBaggins]

3. How did global capacity go up 31% if the European leader only

Went up 24%?

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. China is not in Europe

http://www.gwec.net/index.php?id=30&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews=247&tx_ttnews=97&cHash=8a55b8eab5

03 / 02 / 2010 10:44 Age: 11 days

Global wind power boom continues despite economic woes

China doubles installed capacity for fifth year running – Global markets up 31%

Brussels, 3 February 2010. The Global Wind Energy Council today announced that the world’s wind power capacity grew by 31% in 2009, adding 37.5 GW to bring total installations up to 157.9 GW. A third of these additions were made in China, which experienced yet another year of over 100% growth.

“The continued rapid growth of wind power despite the financial crisis and economic downturn is testament to the inherent attractiveness of the technology, which is clean, reliable and quick to install. Wind power has become the power technology of choice a growing number of countries around the world,” said Steve Sawyer, GWEC’s Secretary General. “Copenhagen didn’t bring us any closer to a global price on carbon, but wind energy continued to grow due to national energy policy in our main markets and also because many governments in prioritised renewable energy development in their economic recovery plans,” he said.

Wind energy is now an important player in the world’s energy markets. The global wind market for turbine installations in 2009 was worth about 45 bn EUR or 63 bn US$. GWEC estimates that around half a million people are now employed by the wind industry around the world.

The main markets driving this significant growth continue to be Asia, North America and Europe, each of which installed more than 10 GW of new wind capacity in 2009.

...

[bananas]

7. tiny url for that link; it says 340 TWh per year

That url gets mangled by the DU software,
here's a tiny url for it: http://tinyurl.com/ycjbro7

Also, it says the 158GW capacity will generate 240 TWh per year:

“Wind energy is already making a significant contribution to saving CO2 emissions. The 158GW of global wind capacity in place at the end of 2009 will produce 340 TWh of clean electricity and save 204 million tons of CO2 every year,” concluded Sawyer. “As we see in Europe and the US, wind power is now often the most attractive option for new power generation, both in economic and environmental terms, and for improved supply security.”

Using google calculator, (340 TWh) / (1 year) = 38.7870479 gigawatts

for a capacity factor of (38.7870479 gigawatts) / (158 gigawatts) = 0.245487645
or roughly 25%

[bananas]

10. 340 TWh = 1.2 exajoules

Although the SI standard is "watts", "TWh per year" and "exajoules per year" are often used, as in the wikipedia article above. Often the "per year" is implied and not explicitly stated.

For completeness, using google calculator again, 340 terawatt hours = 1.22400 exajoules (per year).

So wind is generating over 1.2 exajoules per year.

As shown upthread, at the current growth rate of 30% per year, this would blow past global energy consumption in just 25 years.