Resource information
This study reviews the prospects of wind
power at the global level. Existing studies indicate that
the earth's wind energy supply potential significantly
exceeds global energy demand. Yet, only 1 percent of the
global electricity demand is currently derived from wind
power despite 40 percent annual growth in wind generating
capacity over the past 25 years. More than 98 percent of
total current wind power capacity is installed in the
developed countries plus China and India. It has been
estimated that wind power could supply 7 to 34 percent of
global electricity needs by 2050. However, wind power faces
a large number of technical, economic, financial,
institutional, market, and other barriers. To overcome these
barriers, many countries have employed various policy
instruments, including capital subsidies, tax incentives,
tradable energy certificates, feed-in tariffs, grid access
guarantees and mandatory standards. Besides these policies,
climate change mitigation initiatives resulting from the
Kyoto Protocol (e.g., CO2-emission reduction targets in
developed countries and the Clean Development Mechanism in
developing countries) have played a significant role in
promoting wind power.
