Compiled By Jill Jusko In 2001 the U.S. wind energy industry installed nearly 1,700 megawatts of new generating equipment, setting a new record that more than doubles the previous best -- set in 1999, when some 732 megawatts was installed. "2001 was ...
Compiled ByJill Jusko In 2001 the U.S. wind energy industry installed nearly 1,700 megawatts of new generating equipment, setting a new record that more than doubles the previous best -- set in 1999, when some 732 megawatts was installed. "2001 was an astonishing year for our industry in the U.S.," says Randall Swisher, executive director of the Washington-based American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. "More new wind generation was installed in a single state -- Texas [over 900 megawatts] -- than had ever been installed in the entire country in a single year." The AWEA says the new wind farms in 2001 will generate enough electricity annually to power 475,000 average American households and will displace emissions of 3 million tons on carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas. However, prospects for another record-setting year in 2002 are dim, the trade association says, due to the expiration of a key tax incentive for wind generation.
