Wind Power is the conversion of wind energy into electricity, and other useful forms, using wind turbines. Wind power has been used by humans throughout history, probably for over 5,500 years according to some sources.  In the United States, the development of the "water-pumping windmill" was the major factor in allowing the farming and ranching of vast areas of North America. 

How is wind created?  The Earth is unevenly heated by the sun, which results in the poles receiving less energy from the sun than the equator does. As dry land heats up and then eventually cools down, it does so more quickly than the oceans. It is this differential heating that drives a global atmospheric convection system reaching from the Earth's surface to the stratosphere, which acts as a virtual ceiling. Most of the energy stored in these wind movements can be found at high altitudes where continuous wind speeds of over 160 km/h (100 mph) occur. Eventually, the wind energy is converted through friction into diffuse heat throughout the Earth's surface and the atmosphere.

According to the American Wind Energy Association Annual Wind Industry Report - Year ending 2008:

In 2008, the U.S. wind energy industry brought online over 8,500 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity, increasing the nation’s cumulative total by 50% to over 25,300 MW and pushing the U.S. above Germany as the country with the largest amount of wind power capacity installed. The new installations place the U.S. on a trajectory to generate 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2030 from wind energy as long as the industry continues to garner long-term policy support.

The growth in 2008 channeled an investment of some $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country along with natural gas. The new wind projects completed in 2008 account for about 42% of the entire new power-producing capacity added nationally during the year, according to initial estimates, and will avoid nearly 44 million tons of carbon emissions--the equivalent of taking over 7 million cars off the road.

The amount that the industry brought online in the 4th quarter alone – 4,313 MW – exceeds annual additions for every year except 2007. In all, wind power generating capacity in the U.S. now stands at 25,369 MW, producing enough electricity to power the equivalent of close to 7 million households and strengthening our national electricity supply with a clean, inexhaustible, homegrown source of energy.

Wind projects installed through the end of 2008 generated over 1.25% of the nation’s electricity in 2008.  Nearly 4,000 MW of projects that could have been commissioned in 2008 will now be brought online in the early part of 2009. AWEA expects over 5,000 MW of new capacity to be commissioned in 2009.

The U.S. market for small wind turbines – those with capacities of 100 kW and under – grew 96% in 2008 with an additional 19 MW of installed capacity. This growth was largely attributable to increased private equity investment for manufacturing, which allowed equipment supply and availability to increase. The industry projects 30-fold growth within as little as five years, for a total installed capacity of 1,700 MW, due primarily to the new 30% federal Investment Tax Credit passed by Congress in October 2008 and enhanced in February 2009.

The top ten manufacturers of wind turbine products, as ranked by Merrill Lynch and BTM Consult, are:

Vestas (Denmark)
Gamesa (Spain)
General Electric (US)
Enercon (Germany)
Suzlon (India)
Siemens (Germany)
Nordex (Germany)
Repower (Germany, now acquired by Suzlon)
Acciona (Spain)
Goldwind (China)

These companies have an estimated total global market share of approximately ninety five (95) percent.  With a 20 percent market share, and 38,000 wind turbines installed, Vestas is the world's leading supplier of wind power solutions.

Investing in Wind Power

Investment in wind power can come from investing in wind power generation facilities.  Speculative investors can find opportunities for investments in wind power from investing in wind power technologies, such as turbines and blades.

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Wind Power"