Word: powerized
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...Wind-power estimates have been made before, but the PNAS team drilled them down to greater detail. Using a simulation of global wind fields from NASA's Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System - a network of complex computer systems used to simulate and predict meteorology - McElroy and his colleagues could map the distribution of wind resources around the globe, then calculate how much electricity could be produced by tapping those breezes with current turbines, which can generate about 2.5 megawatts on land, and larger turbines that can generate 3.6 megawatts offshore. (Offshore winds tend to be stronger and more...
...results show that there's more than enough wind to go around, and not just in breezy, big countries like the U.S. Even land-limited Japan can produce more than three times its current electricity consumption with wind power, provided it taps offshore wind. The problem isn't supply but distribution: in the U.S. and elsewhere, some of the richest wind resources tend to be far from the densely populated coastal areas that need the most electricity. Another problem is intermittency - even in Chicago, there are days when the wind doesn't below. But both those hurdles can be sidestepped...
...centric energy future, but local communities in coastal areas have fought against offshore, claiming the turbines spoil seaside views. (One iconic project on Massachusetts' Cape Cod, called Cape Wind, has been tied up in legal challenges for eight years.) But the greatest obstacle is economic. Though the price of power from wind has dropped in recent years, it's still more expensive than most electricity from coal or natural gas. And while Obama the candidate wanted renewables to reach 25% of the U.S. energy mix by 2025, we're a long way from that goal (less than...
Duprey and many others in the renewable-energy industry would prefer a feed-in tariff, which requires utilities to buy alternative electricity at above-market rates. Feed-in tariffs have already been used with considerable success in European countries like Spain and Germany, where renewable power has achieved greater penetration than in the U.S. But there seems to be little chance of that happening in Washington, in part because the nascent renewable-energy industry lacks lobbying might. "It's hard out there for us," says Duprey. "We're not as well organized as the coal or nuclear industry." Renewables like...
Despite a week of consistent protests following a disputed presidential election in Iran, most Harvard Middle East scholars interviewed in recent days said they doubt the Iranian opposition will succeed in ushering their own reform-minded candidate into power, though the professors said the events have left the Islamic Republic weaker...