{"id":520652,"date":"2010-04-08T15:10:44","date_gmt":"2010-04-08T19:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenrightnow.com\/?p=10607"},"modified":"2010-04-08T15:10:44","modified_gmt":"2010-04-08T19:10:44","slug":"u-s-wind-industry-grew-in-2009-but-needs-an-res","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/520652","title":{"rendered":"U.S. wind industry grew in 2009, but needs an RES"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Barbara Kessler<\/a>
\nGreen Right Now<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wind energy grew in the U.S. in 2009, despite the economic downturn, adding jobs, turbines and enough new power to run 2.4 million homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association\u2019s annual report released Thursday.<\/p>\n

\"masthd_news\"The wind sector installed more than 10,000 Megawatts of new wind power capacity in 2009, experiencing its largest growth and keeping America at the top of the list of wind-generating nations worldwide.<\/p>\n

But the U.S. will not remain a leader in the global race to build wind power, several experts warned, unless the federal government passes clear targets for renewable energy that will encourage and support the industry.<\/p>\n

Other countries have promised to make clean energy a certain percentage of their energy mix within\u00a0 10 to 15 years, but the U.S., where Congress has not enacted a climate or energy security bill, does not offer its clean energy businesses that assurance, they said.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the industry needs both the positive signal of a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which would designate a clean energy target and stable tax incentives for wind development, instead of short term production tax credits that have left the industry in doubt in the past, they said. These two measures, the RES and the tax credits, both of which are part of current climate legislation under consideration in the U.S. Senate, would boost domestic wind investment, production and jobs, and keep America competitive in the world market for wind turbines, Bode said.<\/p>\n

Without such a U.S. commitment, \u201cwe\u2019re operating with one hand tied behind our back,\u201d Bode said.<\/p>\n

Until recently, the U.S. was the clear leader in wind energy development, said Don Furman, <\/strong>a senior vice president at Iberdrola Renewables, who participated in a news conference about the annual wind report. But China is poised to become number one, with phenomenal growth both in wind production and turbine manufacture. Europe also is moving forward with major offshore wind projects with the full support of the British, German and other governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel very, very good about this (2009) report and our growth in the industry,\u2019\u2019 Furman said. \u201cBut here\u2019s the big point, we (the U.S.) used to own this industry\u2026today most of the manufacturing is overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some of the highlights of the 2009 report:<\/p>\n