Precast Solutions - July/August 2008 - (Page 23)

WHY WIND POWER IS EXPLODING THE U.S. WIND ENERGY INDUSTRY Wind-generated power is not only here and growing, it is increasing at phenomenal rates. Currently, wind turbine supply shortages have affected numerous projects, but this situation is expected to improve as manufacturers ramp up production to meet demand. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the U.S. wind energy industry in 2008 is expected to match or exceed the nation’s unprecedented 2007 growth in wind power. To keep perspective, this projected 2008 growth represents just over 1 percent of the country’s total electrical supply; however, we need only to look to wind power developments in Europe – particularly in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands – to read the writing on the wall. Soaring prices for oil, the ongoing energy demands of Mideast military operations, devaluation of the dollar and the vagaries of international energy politics all support an irrefutable rationale for unfurling our sails EXPANDED ITS TOTAL WIND POWERGENERATING CAPACITY BY IN JUST ONE YEAR, 45 PERCENT 2007. EUROPE LEADS IN WIND POWER CAPACITY AND ENGINEERING Today, Europe contributes more than 60 percent of the world’s wind energy capacity and more than 54 gigawatts, or 4 percent, of the European Union’s (EU) electric to the wind. Not only is wind and advanced wind power technology supply, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. With the current price of oil at more than $110 per barrel and growing, it is not surprising that more than 20 percent of Europe’s total windgenerated power was installed in one year, in 2007. The European Commission calls for a target of 20 percent of EU energy from renewable sources and a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. In 2007, Spain installed more than 3,000 megawatts of wind turbine power, almost half of all the additional power in Europe. More than 20 percent of Denmark’s electric power is generated by onshore and offshore wind towers, but Germany continues to retain its EU leadership with more than 22,000 megawatts in wind-generated power. Offshore wind power promises to be a major player in Europe’s wind power capacity in the near future. Europe leads the world in not only producing wind energy but in designing and engineering exciting new precast concrete wind tower systems. JULY/AUGUST 2008 available today, but windharvested power from just a handful of states, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, could provide all the power needs of the entire country. Think of all the green advantages of a non-carbon fuel-like wind power: no air pollution, no increase in global warming and no depletion of limited fossil fuels. Yet with all the environmental advantages of wind power and possessing both the vast landmass and offshore regions on which to generate it, America is not at the forefront of this abundant green energy technology. | PRECAST SOLUTIONS 23

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Precast Solutions - July/August 2008 Contents What You Should Know About UHPC A Winning Hand Fresno Federal Expanding U.S. Wind Power Precast Concrete Pipe

Precast Solutions - July/August 2008

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