The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has a released a new report on the future of wind power in the U.S.
According to the report, wind power can be economically deployed to provide renewable power in all 50 states by 2050.
As a clean energy source, wind power can displace more than 12.3 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, equal to a global economic value of $400 billion.
The report projects that wind energy can support more than 600,000 jobs by 2050. In 2013, a total of 50,000 American jobs were supported by wind investments.
Additionally, growth in the wind sector will help to lower the cumulative electric sector expenditures by $149 billion by 2050.
Besides, the Energy Department has supported research and development that has helped the wind industry install almost 60 GW of wind power capacity, enough to power 16 million homes and also helped to decrease the cost of wind energy by more than 90 percent.
The wind power can be successfully achieved through technological advancements that bring in cost reductions, continued siting and transmission development.
The report also mentions the needs of highlighting wind energy segment in the marketplace to maintain the existing manufacturing infrastructure and economic benefits.
Through continued cost reductions and further investments, wind power can be directly competitive with conventional energy within the next decade.
While the industry is maturing, many future actions and efforts remain critical to further advancements. For example, continued technology development is essential to reduce costs.
The report includes a roadmap that defines actions needed for a substantial economic and social benefit of a strong wind energy future.
The roadmap provides nine core action areas such as technology advancement and workforce development, which are designed to boost U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and the domestic clean energy workforce.
Carrying out the roadmap actions will also reduce the cost of implementing future policy measures.
Sabeena Wahid
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