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There's lots of talk about solar energy, but recently I read how Denmark plans to power their electric vehicles using mostly wind-power. And Nissan announced that they'll be releasing a 100% electric vehicle to the US and Japan by 2010. Could wind-power create enough of that electricity for cars?
Environmental scientists and alternative energy experts are saying that the answer is "yes", and that the wind can create more electricity than most people realize. More and more industries, from the oil industry to the electrical power grids, are turning to the wind to provide them with that extra amount of sustainable power they so desperately need. In some areas the wind blows all the time. But to harness the wind we need giant wind turbines, and the demand for wind turbines is "going through the roof". The web site treehugger.com recently reported that the cost of wind-power turbines is sky-rocketing. Increase Cost of 74% for Land-Based, and 48% for Offshore Wind Turbines
"For years we've heard about how a shortage of silicon kept solar panel prices higher than they would otherwise be. Just as we're expecting supply to improve in that field, we learn that wind turbines are getting more expensive. Not just a little, but a lot:" "The price of offshore turbines rose 48 percent to 2.23 million euros ($3.45 million) per megawatt in the past three years, according to BTM Consult APS, a Danish wind power consultant. By comparison, land-based rotors cost 1.38 million euros per megawatt after rising 74 percent in the same period." Wind Industry not Immune to Supply and Demand
Treehugger.com goes on to explain; "This has a good and bad side. The bad one is obvious, but it's worth explaining the good. Part of the cost increase comes from higher commodity prices, and that's bad both for wind turbine makers and for wind turbine buyers (it's only good to mining companies), but part of it also has to do with extremely high demand. As we reported recently, GE can't make wind turbines fast enough and there's certainly no recession going on for the wind power industry." Can you imagine the employment opportunities as well as the economic stimulation that alternative sources of sustainable energy has for any thriving population base? The need for clean power could replace war as a growth-engine for industry. Money to be Made with Wind Power
"The fact that demand is so high pushes prices upward, but that will only serve to attract more players; investors will see that there's money to be made with wind power and large industrial companies might shift more resources to their wind power divisions. In fact, demand has been high for long enough to show the market that wind power is not simply a passing fad. So we're kind of happy and sad simultaneously. We wish wind was much cheaper, but the way to get to that point is probably to go through some more of this "demand outstrips supply" phase." As we stand on the verge of some real political changes in the western world, and with Asian growth requiring vast new energy sources, governments all over the planet will be motivated to pour hundreds of billions of dollars in this direction. The nation of Spain is setting the example of how much wind-power can help fill a nation's need for electricity. Just a week ago it wa reported that Spain's wind turbines produced 40.8% of total electrical demand, or 9,862 megawatts of power. Spain, which along with Germany and Denmark, is among the three biggest producers of wind power in the European Union, is aiming to triple the amount of energy it derives from renewable sources by 2020.Spain's wind power industry currently enjoys a 30% annual growth rate. So once the supply of wind power machinery catches up with the growing demand, we will all benefit from the impact of one of the cleanest forms of sustainable power that blows across the face of our precious planet every second. This is a good news for those of us who are trying to live more harmoniously with nature and eliminate the causes of global warming.
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Seeing Green 
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