The Technical Committee of the World Wind Energy Association has published the first World Wind Resource Assessment Report.
According to WWEA, the total wind energy potential of the world, as identified by these existing studies, is 95 million MW, or 95 TW. The group says the relation to the current global energy demand of around 100,000 TWh suggests that wind energy alone would be more than sufficient to supply the globe’s energy supply several times.
Of course, the group notes, the actual deployment of a very large wind capacity will depend on factors such as smart integration into energy supply structures, combination with other renewable technologies, storage options and demand-side management. Wind integration will be dealt with in another report of the WWEA Technical Committee to be published soon.
“In assessing the worldwide potential for wind energy, data and information has been accessed from varied but authentic sources such as national laboratories, research reports, peer-reviewed scientific publications and industry associations,” explains Jami Hossain, chair of the WWEA Technical Committee.
Stefan Gsanger, secretary general of WWEA, adds, “The new WWEA report underlines once more that there is no scarcity of energy on our planet. We can state that we have an abundance of wind alone, although some of the documented figures are still rather conservative.
“In addition to wind, also solar, hydro, geothermal and bioenergy can contribute a lot to mankind’s energy supply – hence, a combination of renewable energies makes it even easier to satisfy the demand,” continues Gsanger. “In terms of cost, wind power can now beat today fossil and nuclear power. The main challenges are still in the need to change the energy market regulations all over the world so that this abundance can be used, for the benefit of human development, the climate and the environment in general.”
The World Wind Resource Assessment Report can be downloaded here.
The report gives a comprehensive overview of currently available wind resources assessment from most world regions, as far as available.
The total wind potential of the world, as identified by these existing studies, is 95 million Megawatt or 95 Terawatt. The relation to the current global energy demand of around 100’000 Terawatthours suggests that wind energy alone would be more than sufficient to cover the world’s energy supply several times.
Dr. Jami Hossain, Chair of the WWEA Technical Committee: “In assessing the worldwide potential for wind energy, data and information has been accessed from varied but authentic sources such as national laboratories, research reports, peer reviewed scientific publications and industry associations. Interestingly, different methods and information sources have come up with numbers that are similar in order and magnitude for different parts of the world. Be it the wind energy potential for Germany, US, Russia China or India or the entire world, the order of magnitude appears to be similar and one study corroborates the other. The report also presents a bird’s eye view of the wind resource assessment practice.”
Stefan Gsänger, WWEA Secretary General: “The new WWEA report underlines once more that there is no scarcity of energy on our planet. We can state that we have an abundance of wind alone, although some of the documented figures are still rather conservative. In addition to wind, also solar, hydro, geothermal and bioenergy can contribute a lot to mankind’s energy supply hence a combination of renewable energies makes it even easier to satisfy the demand. Also in terms of cost, wind power can now beat today fossil and nuclear power. The main challenges are still in the need to change the energy market regulations all over the world so that this abundance can be used, for the benefit of human development, of the climate and the environment in general.”
