Wind Energy is Renewable Energie

History

Wind power has been in use since human beings have been using machines. In the middle of the 19th century 200,000 wind mills for farming purposes were in use in Europe. If all the historical wind mills in Germany were replaced with modern wind turbines, they would produce enough electricity to cover 30% of Germany´s power consumption needs.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, experiments have been made to produce electricity from wind power.

Wind power experienced a boom during the oil crises in the 1970s but it was first in the 1990s that science and technology made such enormous progress and wind energy production became an important economical factor.

Perspectives for the Future

BTM Consult, an independent Danish consulting company which is specialised in the area of renewables, presented in 1999 two scenarios for wind energy for the future.

The first scenario was pessimistic and proceeded on the assumption that governments would give little political support for wind energy. Still this forecast stated that by 2025 10% of the world´s electricity would be produced by wind power. This would mean a CO² reduction of 1.41 Giga tons annually. The price for a kilowatt hour of wind power would drop form 5 US cents to about 3.1 US cents.

The optimistic scenario proceeded on the assumption that the political legislation would support renewables stronger in the future. Therefore the 10% share of worldwide wind generated electricity could be reached as soon as 2016/17. BTM assumed that the wind energy branch would increase annually by 28-30%.

The worldwide turnover made by the wind power industry should rise from 3.8 billion $ in 1999 to 7.5 billion $ in 2004. Europe will remain the leader with the most installed capacity. The USA has an enormous amount of potential for wind energy projects but the political backing is not there.

Kyoto

On 21 March 1994, the worldwide climate convention, which had been initiated by the UN, became effective. It had been worked on for more than two years and 175 countries had ratified it.

The goal was to stabilise the greenhouse effect and reduce gas emissions to a level where they would not be dangerous to the world´s climate system. This goal should be reached within a period of time which would be long enough to allow the ecosystem to get used to the changes in the climate in a natural way. The production of food should not be endangered and the economical development should be continued in a sustainable way.

With time it turned out that the convention was a good start but stronger and more far-reaching measures would have to be taken.

Therefore in December 1997, the conference in Kyoto took place and the Kyoto Protocol was approved.

Kyoto Protocol

In December 1997, on the occasion of the conference which took place in Kyoto, the Kyoto Protocol was passed.

In it the member states agreed to take measures to reduce gas emissions and to prevent changes in our climate which are probably caused by pollution. They committed themselves to supporting the development and utilisation of renewable energy sources and innovative technology with the goal of reducing CO² emissions.

It was set down that the industrial countries would reduce their gas emissions in the period 2008-2012 to amount to 5% less than the level in 1990. It was clear to the politicians that an increase in the use of renewables would become very important.

Europe

The support and promotion of electricity production from renewable energy sources is one of the European Union´s goals.

These renewable energy forms are not able to compete on the market with conventional energy sources due to the high cost of their production. In comparison to conventional energy the renewables are calculated with true costs. This is why most of them are in need of financial support according to the Commission.

The European Commission published the "White Book" for Energy Production in 1997. It stated that by the year 2010 the share of renewables in the total energy consumption of the EU should double from 6% to 12%.

The related EU guideline for promotion of electricity production from renewables in the European market was passed in the fall of 2001. This guideline must be carried out within two years.

The EU Guideline

Following was set down in the EU guideline:
	Electricity consumption covered by renewable energy should increase from 14% (1997) to 22% in 2010. The member states set individual goals. Austria: an increase from 70% to 78% by 2010, hydroelectric power and the incineration of garbage are included here.
	The individual countries are able to pass their own laws which govern renewables for four years (until 2005). At this time the success of these measures will be studied. Afterwards a framework for promoting renewables within the European community would be worked out giving the countries another 7 years until these measures would have to be put into action. This means that the countries can adhere to their own national laws until 2012.
	A system for labeling the origin of electricity generated from renewables will be developed.
	The member countries will make an effort to eliminate obstacles which are in the way of the planning and management of renewables.
	Grid connection for renewables would be guaranteed.
	A report about the external costs for conventional energy production and an analysis about the effects of government support for these conventional energy sources would be written.

Third World Countries

Wind energy is a real alternative for third world countries since no natural resources are necessary after the installation of a wind turbine.

As soon as the wind turbine has been erected, the produced energy is accessible. This is important for countries badly in need of energy. Wind power would make these poor countries less dependent on importing electricity and could help to decrease their debt.

Wind power would also have many advantages for small islands in the Caribbean or other island groups which get their electricity mostly from diesel generators.

Public Opinion

A survey carried out by Greenpeace in May 2001 about Temelin and clean energy had the following results:
	91% of the questioned Austrians said that they were against importing nuclear power and that they would be willing to pay higher tariffs for clean energy.
	76% are against limiting the production of electricity from renewable energy sources.
	Only 14% of the questioned want to limit the extra costs for renewables to 7€/year.
	6% are not willing to pay higher costs for clean energy.
	82% would like to know where their electricity comes from.
	12% don´t care where the electricity comes from or how it was produced.
The results show that Austrians are very conscious about the importance of renewable energy sources. This is probably due to the discussion about Temelin which has been going on for years. The survey shows that a majority of Austrians would be prepared to pay higher tariffs for clean energy.