Chapter 247 – Wind Energy Technology — The State of the Art

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the wind energy technology. Wind energy technology has developed extremely rapidly, and many machines now on the market have ratings of a megawatt or more. There are a number of factors that are causing a steady fall in the cost of wind energy systems:the trend toward larger wind turbines, falling infrastructure costs, and possible reductions in the cost of raw materials. This chapter examines design concepts, applications, and economics and looks to the further development of offshore wind energy. World wind energy capacity is currently doubling every three years. Moreover, with the developments for electricity generation in the industrialized world, a very wide range of opportunities for wind energy are available in remote regions, either for supplementing diesel power (which tends to be expensive) or for supplying farms, homes and other installations on an individual basis. The rate of development depends on the level of political support from the national governments and international community. This, in turn, depends on the level of commitment to achieving the carbon dioxide reduction targets now internationally agreed.