Wind Power in Europe
The future of wind power technology is vast and exciting. It is estimated that by 2020, the European Union and America will be supplying a minimum of 25% of their energy needs from wind power. These projections are particularly impressive given that the predicted doubling of consumption of electricity needs for these areas of the world is factored in to the numbers.
Wind power in Europe is being considered to be one of the most promising solutions to a growing problem, that of imported energy. Already the United Kingdom has become a world leader in the creation, manufacture and installation of what are known as 'small wind systems'. These British small wind systems are now being installed the world over by those fortunate enough to live in areas where the wind conditions are perfect for energy generation using wind power. All of the systems as well as the design of the windmills themselves have led to wind produced energy becoming ever more important to the countries in the developed world, which have enthusiastically adopted this form of energy generation.
As a case in point, on the morning of one particularly windy day in November 2009 wind power accounted for more than half of the electricity needed in Spain - to date this is a record for the wind power generation of electricity of any country. In general terms it is Europe and in particular Scandinavia where wind power is generating significant amounts of electricity for a country's electricity grid system. For example, in Denmark on average 19% of the country's electricity is generated from wind, and in the Republic of Ireland and Germany the average figure is 6%.
Currently the European Union imports as much as 50% of all of the energy it consumes. Unfortunately, much of that energy comes from as far away as the gas fields of Kazakhstan, Russian, and Africa. The transport of this energy over great distances is inefficient to say the least. There is also a significant amount of coal coming from India, it is difficult to control the eco damage that is done when the energy is extracted, or to provide continued assurance of the security of the supply of this energy.
What the European Union and other countries such as America are doing is to build an industry that can generate energy cheaply, efficiently and most of all in a way that doesn't harm the environment in the ways that coal, oil and gas extraction do. Additionally, this energy generation is secure and won't run out or be switched off by some petulant government in the supply country.
Currently 80% of all of the equipment used in the generation of energy from the wind is installed in the European Union and its countries and that is just the tip of an enormous iceberg. All of which will ensure safe, clean and reliable electricity generation for centuries to come.