China Has Increased Its Installed Wind Energy Capacity

In a growing world, electricity production is becoming a problem due to coal fired electrical plants releasing millions of gallons of greenhouse gases, ecological problems with pollution in water, and health risks concerning workers and people living nearby. But with new technology and advances in renewable energy sources, wind energy is becoming one of the most popular energy sources for many states.

According to research done by Discovery News, in January 25, 2013, the top 10 countries, by order of most demand and use of wind energy, are: China, United States, Germany, Spain, India, Italy, France, Canada, Brazil, and Denmark. All of these countries are investing money in wind turbine projects because, in the long run, it is going to benefit them from both the economic and ecofriendly point of view (Discovery News). In addition to these top ten countries in the world, there are more countries that have, or are, investing in these types of projects, since this is the future and correct path for the use Renewable Energy as a replacement for fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are harming the environment to the point where in a short amount of time it is going to be almost impossible to live on Earth because of the catastrophic changes the pollution will cause. (Environmental and Energy Study Institute). The controversies caused in

One of the fastest growing energy sources in the world, wind power is a globally advantageous renewable resource.

“ Wind power generated more electricity in 2015 than the combined generation from all sources in Georgia and Colorado.

One of the great parts about wind energy is that it has a large amount of positives to the environment and hardly any negative effects. Because wind energy uses the wind for the energy there is no emissions generated from the energy produced. It is estimated that the use of one million kWh of wind power can save around 600 tons of carbon dioxide emissions (Saidur, Rahim, Islam, & Solangi, 2011). Therefore, it is easy to see that the widespread use of wind power can help mitigate climate change. This is critical to help stop climate change and the United States is uniquely positioned to be the leader in curbing climate. When the United States starts heavily investing in alternative energy sources other countries will likely follow suit, which will be key to reducing global emissions.

scenario, more than 600,000 wind-related jobs could be supported, accelerating the already tremendous growth of the American wind industry” (Zayas). Installing and operating these large wind turbines creates loads of jobs in our country. Men and Women of our country need to get back to work and these turbines are helping immensely. More men and women working means that they will have more money to support their families. As a result, they will be taken off of welfare and be actually working for their money. This will result in less children starving and more roofs over American family's heads. Certainly, renewable energy should be the main way the country generates its electricity because of wind power which also helps the economy making it an economically sound decision .According to the nonprofit Solar Foundation, “The organization’s annual National Solar Jobs Census for 2016 showed that the solar industry’s contribution to the national employment picture is significant, adding up to one out of every 50 new jobs created last year”( Tina Casey). Renewable energy and especially Solar power is creating jobs in our country. In this country, there are too many people on welfare and not working. Solar energy can help fix this massive problem. More jobs mean less of the nation’s money going to people on welfare. This means the country will have more money to spend on roads, bridge, airports and other infrastructure to make this country a better place. Overall, renewable energy

Not only can renewable energy produce lots of energy, renewable energy can also create a multitude of jobs and economic benefits. Since the renewable energy industry will be more labor intensive, the number of jobs will also increase per unit when compared to non-renewable sources. Another analysis by the USC demonstrates that a 25 percent renewable energy standard will create three times as many jobs as fossil fuels producing that same percentage of energy. In addition, other businesses will benefit from this growth due to the ripple effect, since an increase of income within the household and renewable energy industry will also help grow other businesses that humans and renewable energy depend on. The Union of Concerned Scientists also found that the 25 percent standard would create around $263 billion in new capital investment for renewable energy technologies and around $11.5 billion in new property tax revenue for local communities. Along with the revenue created by renewable energy, renewable energy technologies have declined at a steady rate and are projected to keep dropping. For instance, the price of a solar panel has dropped 60% since 2011 and the cost of generating electricity from wind dropped 20% between 2010 and 2012. As the renewable energy markets mature and companies take advantage of the economy, the cost of renewable energy will decline further. Another advantage of growing the renewable energy industry includes that once built, renewable

It drops almost 90 percent. (Brown 2005) (See Figure 2) However, the U.S was still behind Europe, because of some political and financial issues. Many European countries had started on building windmill projects. Europe comprised two-thirds of the global use of wind electricity-generating capacity. (Brown 2005). The leading countries that use wind power are Germany, Spain, USA, India and Demark. In addition, other countries are now started to utilize wind energy. Asia’s growth is up to 7000KW in 2005. (Florence 2006).

Using wind turbines has helped put the UK on track to achieve deriving 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources

“Worldwide, hydropower facilities possess a significant amount of installed electric generating capacity. IEA statistics indicate that at the end of 2001 there was in excess of 450,000 MW of installed capacity within IEA member countries, with about half in Europe and half in North America. In addition to conventional hydropower, there is more than 80,000 MW of installed pumped-hydro capacity in IEA countries. In contrast, utility-scale wind power is relatively new in the electric market, but increasing rapidly” (Integration of Wind and Hydropower Systems)

Deal, 2010, ‘Wind Power: An Emerging Energy Resource’, Technology and Engineering Teacher, pp. 9-15, viewed on September 12, 2011, retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/853062621/fulltextPDF/13255EC175479D10C7A/1?accountid=42518

Despite ongoing difficulties with project financing and low electricity prices, certain provinces have introduced local tax incentives. For example, Chubut, in north Patagonia, has approved legislation removing 100% of taxes on gross income from wind power in the first 5 years of operation, reducing to 50% in years 6 to 10. The province hopes such incentives will spur the build-out of an estimated 2.2-GW pipeline.

The Renewable Energy Act details the duties of the government and businesses in the development and utilization of renewable energy. It includes measures relating to mandatory grid connection, differentiated pricing, price management regulation, and tax reliefs (Zhou, 2008). The Energy Conservation Law strengthens energy conservation and promotes the advancement of energy conservation technology. The country’s most recently passed climate change law, the Five‐Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, promotes environmentally sustainable economic growth, and lays out the national framework for a resource- efficient economy, rather than an economy that is resource-intensive (Zhou, 2008).

China has a huge problem when it comes to pollution. The images of the thick fog on the streets of Beijing tell the story rather starkly. But the country has chosen to accept it has a problem and decided to do something about it. In the process, China has become a leading power in the renewables sector.

The report also indicated that wind employment remained stable around 0.8 million jobs. There have been policy changes in several countries that have reduced installation jobs. In other industries in this market like operations and maintenance, they have experienced a little growth. The uncertainty about future policies in these various countries has had an impact. This has resulted in a significant drop in new US installations and caused weak markets in Europe and India. However, China and Canada have experienced a surge. Form the more than 834,000 jobs, Europe has accounted for approximately 58,000 of those jobs