World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

December 10, 2006 – Vol. 11 No. 38

WORLD WIND WATCH.

Economically exploding China and India aren’t particularly fussy about where their power comes from as long as its available to keep their industrial freight trains charging ahead. Neither nation is steered by powerful special interests that determine the course of their energy supply.

Wind energy, of course, is a significant player in building new capacity. China, in particular. is thinking green to clean up their act a bit.

According to a new report from Emerging Energy Research (EER) - Asia Pacific Wind Power Markets and Strategies 2006-2015 - China and India together will add 36,000 megawatts of wind capacity by 2015, with the rest of the Asia Pacific region adding 10,000 megawatts in the period.

Following China and India will be Japan and Australia, which will add 100 -300 megawatts per year. Other nations in the region such as South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Pakistan and the Philippines will add significant wind power as well.

Already Vestas, GE, Suzlon, Gamesa, and Nordex are gearing up turbine production facilities to meet demand there as well as pursue products for export in the longer term, according to EER.

The 200-page report, available for a fee geared toward professionals ($3950 -5850), can be purchased from EER at http://www.emerging-energy.com/

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBS), a program to allow government and tax-exempt entities, such as communities and rural electric cooperatives, to finance renewable energy projects at zero interest. At the time of the bill’s signing it was estimated that the set-aside of $800 million in tax credit bonds would fund 610 renewable energy projects across the US.

Now with the hard work of a number of communities in Montana, the state will get 9-percent of those funds or $72 million that will be used for 34 wind projects for up to 65 megawatts of power.

To get the most bang for their federal buck, the communities will install refurbished wind turbines (not new ones) that in terms of power output sell for about a quarter of the cost of a new machine.

Used wind turbines are offered by companies such as Windbrokers at http://www.windbrokers.com/