Assessing climate change impacts on the near-term stability of the wind energy resource over the United States.

ABSTRACT: The energy sector comprises approximately two-thirds of global total greenhouse gas emissions. For this and other reasons, renewable energy resources including wind power are being increasingly harnessed to provide electricity generation potential with negligible emissions of carbon dioxide. The wind energy resource is naturally a function of the climate system because the "fuel" is the incident wind speed and thus is determined by the atmospheric circulation. Some recent articles have reported historical declines in measured near-surface wind speeds, leading some to question the continued viability of the wind energy industry. Here we briefly articulate the challenges inherent in accurately quantifying and attributing historical tendencies and making robust projections of likely future wi

SUBMITTER: Pryor SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3100965 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature