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| American wind power reaches 50-gigawatt milestone  American wind power has blown through an historic milestone: 50 gigawatts of electric generating capacity, the American Wind Energy Association announced, just as Congress works to extend a critical federal policy and continue the growth of wind power in the United States. Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, made the announcement at the National Clean Energy Summit hosted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, and attended by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.The 50 gigawatts (GW) online today means that U.S. wind turbines now power the equivalent of nearly 13 million American homes, or as many as in Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama, and Connecticut combined. In addition, 50 gigawatts (GW) of wind power capacity: – Represents the generating power of 44 coal-fired power plants, or 11 nuclear power plants. – Avoids emitting as much carbon dioxide as taking 14 million cars off the road. – Conserves 30 billion gallons of water a year compared to thermal electric generation, since wind energy uses virtually no water. "This milestone for wind-energy production marks continued success for this clean, renewable and domestically produced energy source," said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), father of the Production Tax Credit that has helped Iowa become the state with the second most wind power in the nation. "Wind energy has exceeded expectations since I first authored the tax incentive, in 1992, and offers an ideal for expanded production and use of alternative energy sources in the future." Among the projects that contributed to crossing the threshold of 50 gigawatts (equal to 50,000 megawatts) are projects newly connected to the power grid in Nevada, Oklahoma, Idaho, California, Hawaii and Iowa. write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Construction News :: home page |