The number of wind farms installed has increased rapidly over the past decade. Wind energy has become one of America's fastest-growing renewable energy sources. However, the future of wind energy will still be influenced by various factors.
Wind power production has a primary cost. This is because of the labor and materials required to build a turbine. This is why accurate wind resource assessment is so important. This is especially true for assessing long-term sustainability. It's not easy to integrate innovative statistical techniques to quantify uncertainties. To make the most of wind's potential, it is important to do an accurate assessment to determine if a project is profitable.
The wind resource assessment can also quantify the benefits and challenges of developing wind energy. It is important to evaluate the cost of developing wind power and the benefits that wind turbines can bring to the environment. The cost of developing wind power on difficult sites can increase the power price.
The wind energy industry has recently experienced a boom, with an estimated 3,400 megawatts of new capacity expected in the U.S. by 2006. This represents a 40% growth rate that demonstrates the industry's rapid evolution. The United States currently has over 1815 megawatts of onshore wind resource, and a potential offshore wind resource of far more than this. Only 10-15% is available for utility-scale use.
The future of renewable energy will be dominated by wind energy. Despite this potential, many county and city policymakers don't know much about the local wind resource. We will discuss the main obstacles to wind energy development and how we can overcome them.
First, newer wind turbine technology offers larger and more complex turbines. A wind turbine costs around three to seven dollars per kilowatt-hour. Although this cost is significantly lower than the cost of fossil fuels it is still much higher than other traditional sources.
A second problem is the noise that wind turbines make. Wind turbines can also have noticeable effects on the local climate and weather. Although it can seem daunting to perform an accurate wind resource assessment, it is vital. A variety of statistical techniques are used to quantify uncertainty and make a precise wind resource assessment. An accurate wind resource assessment includes new NASA Earth science data MERRA.
Finally, the wind energy industry will continue to grow rapidly in the years to come. But, it's important to keep in mind that most of this growth will occur offshore and there is only a limited amount of onshore renewable energy available for utility-scale developments. Therefore, developers of wind energy should concentrate on areas that are less dangerous.
A wind energy blueprint is useful for policymakers as well as the general public. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the state and future of wind power research. This study, among other things, highlights the future wind-related technologies and gives an overview of industry stakeholders.