The economic development potential that wind power offers is often an overlooked aspect of today's wind power projects. Much has been written about how wind can spur economic development, but few have attempted to quantify these impacts. Using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's)...

OAK-B135 Interest in wind power development is growing as a means of expanding local economies. Such development holds promise as a provider of short-term employment during facility construction and long-term employment from ongoing facility operation and maintenance. It may also support some...

OAK-B135 Interest in wind power development is growing as a means of expanding local economies. Such development holds promise as a provider of short-term employment during facility construction and long-term employment from ongoing facility operation and maintenance (O&M). It may also add to...

In the United States, there has been substantial recent growth in wind energy generating capacity, with growth averaging 24 percent annually during the past five years. About 1,700 MW of wind energy capacity was installed in 2001, while another 410 MW became operational in 2002. This year (2003)...

Markets for renewable electricity have grown significantly in recent years, motivated in part by federal tax incentives and in part by state renewables portfolio standards and renewable energy funds. State renewables portfolio standards, for example, motivated approximately 45% of the 4,300 MW...

This case study summarizes the economic development benefits to Colorado from four Vestas manufacturing facilities: one in Windsor, two in Brighton, and one in Pueblo (which is planned to be the world's largest tower-manufacturing facility). In the midst of an economic slowdown during which...

Texas has rapidly emerged as one of the leading wind power markets in the United States. This development can be largely traced to a well-designed and carefully implemented renewables portfolio standard (RPS). The RPS is a new policy mechanism that has received increasing attention as an...

Each year, the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes a forecast of the domestic energy economy in the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). During the forecast period of the AEO (currently through 2020), renewable energy technologies have typically not achieved...

Many countries and regions are introducing policies aimed at reducing the environmental footprint from the energy sector and increasing the use of renewable energy. In the United States, a number of initiatives have been taken at the state level, from renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) and...

This study identifies a strategy that (1) provides future energy services for Hainan in the least environmentally degrading way, (2) eliminates the need to build significant amounts of new fossil-fueled, electric generating capacity, saving capital to invest in other development projects, (3)...