US becomes top wind power producer

The Associated Press
Published: February 2, 2009

BRUSSELS: It's not just hot air: the United States now leads the world in wind power after boosting wind energy capacity by half last year, the Global Wind Energy Council said Monday.
The U.S. overtook Germany by building windmills that can generate 25 gigawatts of energy, about a fifth of all global wind power, it said.
Surging interest in renewable energy and worries about climate change propelled a 29-percent increase in wind power generation capacity across the world last year — and fueled a wind turbine industry that was worth €36.5 billion ($47.5 billion) in 2008, it said.
China doubled its wind power to 12 gigawatts — and expects that to nearly double again this year. The country is starting to build more wind turbines, rivaling European producers who have dominated the wind energy sector.
But the Brussels-based wind energy association warned that the financial crisis has slowed U.S. funding for new projects and stalled orders for turbines.

Global Wind Energy Council secretary general Steve Sawyer said the wind industry needed December talks on a U.N. climate change pact to give "a strong global signal from governments that they are serious about moving away from fossil fuel and protecting the climate."
Wind producers in the U.S. are also looking for tax incentives and subsidies to power the industry — similar to the large public funding wind energy companies get in Europe and Asia.
The American Wind Energy Association is seeking a slice of the $819 billion economy stimulus program that will be debated by the U.S. Senate this week, saying this would help meet President Barack Obama's goal of doubling renewable energy output within three years.
The European Commission last week asked EU governments to approve putting part of a €5 billion ($6.4 billion) EU stimulus program into new wind power plants.