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Potential for wind and solar power to provide electricity for 5 U.S. states

A Bullish View of Wind Power Out West, NYTimes.com, By JOHN COLLINS,  RUDOLF, June 1, 2010, Wind energy has plenty going for it: it is clean, unlimited in supply and the most economical source of renewable power. Its clearest drawback is unreliability: sometimes the wind just does not blow.But that intermittency – long considered a major shortcoming – may have little impact on the potential for wind to power much of the electric grid in the western United States, according to a new study by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab.The study, released in late May, found that the power grid for five western states – Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming – could operate on as much as 30 percent wind and 5 percent solar without the construction of extensive new infrastructure…….. It concluded that in the West, the broad distribution of wind turbines and solar generation would essentially smooth out the supply of renewable power.“When you coordinate the operations between utilities across a large geographic area, you decrease the effect of the variability of wind and solar energy sources, mitigating the unpredictability of Mother Nature,” Dr. Lew said.

………..the outlook for wind power is far from grim. The industry installed 9.8 gigawatts of capacity in 2009, a record, and is on pace to install at least 6 gigawatts in 2010. And a recent industry study has projected $330 billion in new wind investment between 2010 and 2025..

A Bullish View of Wind Power Out West – Green Blog – NYTimes.com

June 2, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind