Mass Maritime & Wind Energy
About Wind Energy
Benefits of Wind Power
• The Fuel of the Future
• Comparative Air Emissions
• Economics of Wind Energy
• Impact of Wind & Other Energy Sources on Wildlife

South Coast Wind Fast Facts
South Coast Wind ENF
South Coast Wind Permitting
About South Coast Wind

Wind Power Links

(Used with permission of the American Wind Energy Association)

Wind energy’s most important environmental benefit is its lack of emissions of both air pollutants and greenhouse gases when compared with alternative methods of generating electricity.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has developed a set of statistics to quantify the comparative emissions of wind and other fuels, based on data gathered by the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) [1], which collects information on the US utility industry.

This and similar gact sheets can be found online at http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets.html.

For carbon dioxice, (CO2), the leading greenhouse gas associated with global warming, comparative emissions during electricity generation are as follows:

A single 750-kilowatt wind turbine, operated for one year at a site with Class 4 wind speeds (winds averaging 12.5-13.4 mph at 10 meters height), can be expected to displace a total of 2,697,175 pounds of carbon dioxide, 14,172 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 8,688 pounds of nitrogen oxides, based on the US average utility generation fuel mix [3].

AWEA has prepared a spread sheet which permits calculations based on thse and other air emissions statistics and which can be emailed to researchers upon request.

NOTE:

1. Emissions data are based on statistics provided in the EIA’a Annual Energy Review 1998. (Washington, D.C.: Energy Information Administration, DOE/EIA-0384 ((98)), July 1998. the Annual Energy Review can be accessed on the web at http;//www.eia.doe.gov/aer.

2. The numbers for kilowatt-hours generated and emissions for Coal, Natural Gas, and Oil are based on US electric utility generation. The numbers for kilowatt-hours generated and emissions for US Average Fuel Mix and Wind are the totals for all US generation including nonutility plants.

3. Estimate derived by AWEA using data from Renewable Energy Technology Characterizations, published by the US Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute, December 1997.

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