Jump in Wind Powered Electricity

By Bob Difley
Some good news on the alternative energy scene. The American Wind Energy Association announced yesterday (Wednesday) that the US added enough wind produced energy in the second quarter of 2008 to power 400,000 homes–nearly 1,400 megawatts. They also announced that wind turbines will produce this year about 7,500 megawatts of additional electricity, up from 5,249 megawatts installed in 2007–a 43% increase!
Wind power produced more than one-third of the new electric generating capacity installed in the US in 2007, and predictions are that it will continue to grow at this pace. And if Boone Pickens energy plan works out, it will push that total even higher.
This year alone in the US, eight wind turbine component manufacturing facilities opened, nine were expanded, and 19 new facilities were announced. Now if we can get the new congress to extend investment tax credits from the one year given to the wind energy sector to the eight years enjoyed by the solar industry, as well as establishing a new federal renewable energy standard, we might see even more clean energy supplied to the grid. New wind-produced, clean energy will be an important factor as more and more electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (many of which will be towed behind RVs) come on the market and are being charged overnight at home and at campgrounds from grid power.