U.S. Sets Goal For Wind
The United States would be able to produce 5 percent
of the nation's energy from wind by the year 2020 under
a new Energy Department plan, an agency official said
Saturday. "We're going to try to double U.S. wind energy
capacity by 2005 and then double it again by 2010," said
an Energy Department official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity. The level at 2010 would be 10,000 megawatts
online, enough electricity to fulfill the annual needs
of 3 million households, the official said. "By 2020
it would be 5 percent."
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson told The New York Times,
"We think that wind technology has the most potential of
any renewable energy technology right now." The Times
reported that the federal government would try to reach
5 percent of its energy from wind by 2010, a decade ahead
of the nation at large.
Energy officials said the department will invest money in
research and development, encourage codes that are conducive
to wind energy and encourage vocational schools to provide
training in the necessary technology. The DOE official said
the department will work to establish new sources of income
for farmers, rural landowners and American Indians by
involving them in wind power projects.
Other leading renewable contenders are electricity from
the sun or from sources like crop wastes.
