Principal Investigator John Parsons
As concerns over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion increase, wind energy, which emits no greenhouse gases directly, is becoming a lucrative alternative due to technological maturity and low costs relative to other renewable resources.
Based on 2007-2008 data for costs of power generation technologies, bus bar levelized costs of new utility-scale wind installations in the US, land-based wind farms in particular, are approaching those of new intermediate and peak load fossil fuel-fired power stations even without subsidies or carbon pricing. Aside from their increasing competitiveness with coal- or gas-fired generators, wind farms can be expected to deliver macroeconomic benefits as well.
Expanding the share of wind energy from one percent to 20 percent of US electricity production by 2030, as stipulated by the US Department of Energy in their report 20% Wind Energy by 2030, will add over half a million jobs through engineering, construction, and plant operations as well as induced economic activity. Cost should not impede wind power deployment in the near to medium term barring a prolonged period of low prices for coal or gas, with or without policies favorable for wind developers. Therefore, future expansion of wind power will be determined largely by electricity transmission capacity, readiness of grid power storage technologies, and additional non-cost factors.