Similarly to the analysis we have done for solar we are putting the number together for the capacity needed of to replace coal, oil and natural gas with wind as sources for electricity.
We want to jump here directly to a graph comparing the different levels of electricity capacity currently generated from oil, coal, natural gas and the rest (nuclear, hydro etc) with the capacity wind power fields, farms need, the cost of investment needed and the land area used.
The assumptions are $1.3 per installed watt – much less than solar for now. And 3.8 acres per 1.5MW turbine – this is only the land used by the actual turbines and utility roads etc. not the actual land required for the field in which land can be used for agriculture or other purposes.
Click here or on the image to see full resolution graph.
The highest level displayed is not that important because it already includes renewable energy and nuclear (the argument about how clean it is and it’s safety are a subject of a separate discussion). Natural gas though not renewable is clean and still in abundant quantities in reserves. The more important part of the analysis is the lower levels – oil and coal. Look at how affordable the numbers look. Compare to the money currently the government is spending on trying to jump-start the economy anyway.
The scale is also not impossible to achieve quickly. Wind as solar is an accelerating, fast growing industry. Just to create the correct impression here of how quickly the first level – oil can be covered – it requires about 56 GW of wind power. Only in 2007 the newly installed wind power is 5.3 GW (see resources used at the bottom). So even at the same rate of investment, construction we only need 10 years to replace oil used for electricity. This is not counting the potential of solar, other renewables and the potential for the very likely accelerated addition of new wind capacity every year.
Resources Used
US Department of Energy
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/pdfs/43025.pdf
Related Articles:
Can Solar Energy Completely Replace Fossil Fuel and Other Sources?
Solar Energy Land Area Efficiency or How Many Acres per MW, kWp per Acre
Related Info on the Web:
How Wind Farms May Really Replace Coal Mining
Wind Power Ready To Replace Coal?
Europe Could Replace Oil with Offshore Wind Farms
Two New Studies on the Potential of Energy Efficiency
40% of World’s Electricity Will Come From Wind and Solar Power by …
One Comment
More Momentum for the Pickens Plan « Spartacus said :
March 20, 2009 at 6:27 am
[...] analysis of the capacity and cost of wind power needed to replace oil, coal used for electricity. http://solarbythewatt.com/2009/03/20/wind-capacity-to-replace-oil-coal/ The graph also shows from-natural-gas and total electricity produced now in the US but that is not [...]
Leave a Comment