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Wind to make 20 percent of power by 2030: advocates

By Bernie Woodall Tue Jun 5 2007, 12:56 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. wind power industry will see half a trillion

dollars of investment by 2030 to take the renewable source up to 20 percent of

U.S. electricity generation, an industry conference heard on Monday.

This would be a lofty rise from wind's use for less than one percent of U.S.

power today, but many advocates at the American Wind Energy Association's

(AWEA) annual conference this week were bullish as the United States develops

green energy alternatives.

Many aim to catch money blowing in the air that Ric O'Connell of engineering

and consulting firm Black & Veatch says will total $500 billion in wind energy

development in the next 25 years.

"It can be bigger than the entire dot-com revolution," said wind energy

advocate and former South Dakota Democratic Senator Tom Daschle. "This can have

the same economic impact."

U.S.

President George W. Bush said last year that 20 percent of the nation's power

needs can be met by wind. Since Bush's remarks, the AWEA and other wind energy

advocates have worked to map out how to get to that target.

That would mean by 2030 there will have to be 325 gigawatts of installed wind

turbines in the United States, said Michael Robinson of the National Renewable

Energy Laboratory.

Current wind turbines can make between 1.5 and 3 megawatts per tower. A large

natural gas or coal-fired power unit is often 400 megawatts and larger, while

only five U.S. wind farms now have more than 260 megawatts of installed

capacity.

Wind power in the United States grew by 20 percent in 2006 to about 11,600

megawatts, enough to power about 3 million U.S. homes. It is expected to grow

that much again this year, the AWEA says.

"From this vantage point, it looks almost impossible," said Robert Lukefahr,

president of BP Alternative Energy North America. "But you have to remember

that we've made big leaps before."

Lukefahr said over the next 15 years wind power is the least costly and easiest

to develop alternative to coal and natural gas. Beyond that, Lukefahr said he

could not be sure what will be in store for alternative energy.

By then, nuclear power may have finally undergone its long-awaited U.S.

renaissance and alternatives that use natural gas and coal like carbon capture

and storage may be affordable and viable enough for wide scale use, he said.

Vic Abate, vice president for renewable energy at GE Energy, which has twice

the number of installed U.S. turbines than its nearest competitor, says to cut

climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions the U.S. will have to use a diverse

mix of alternatives, including solar and nuclear in addition to wind.

The AWEA's gathering of the wind industry attracted 7,000 participants this

week, up from 5,000 a year ago and 1,000 in 2001.