The wind power sector is booming in the U.S., with a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) highlighting the growth of wind energy operations in the nation, as part of President Biden’s larger plan to get the U.S. to net zero emissions by 2035.
More than 16,000 megawatts of U.S. wind power-generating capacity was installed in 2020, a record yearly figure. It marks the first time wind power developments outpaced solar power installations, culminating in $24.6 billion in investment across 25 states.
Sixteen states total get more than 10 percent of electricity from land-based wind generation, with some in the midwest like Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and North Dakota getting more than 30 percent of their power from wind installations.
“These reports contain such terrific news: the U.S. installed a record-breaking amount of land-based wind energy last year. They underscore both the progress made and the capacity for much more affordable wind power to come – all necessary to reach President Biden’s goal of a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “At DOE, we will double down on efforts to deploy more wind energy around the country as we also pursue technologies to make turbines even cheaper and more efficient.”
This growth applies to both onshore and offshore wind turbine installations.
Coastal states like New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia are all seeing major development in wind turbines located on the water. Some notable projects include the Block Island Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind pilot, as well as the Vineyard Wind I project in Massachusetts waters.
Overall, these installations contributed to a 24-percent increase in offshore wind energy pipeline construction in U.S. waters.
Declining turbine prices have helped spur greater federal and municipal investment in wind power, along with the average increases in size and power of the hardware itself. The DOE estimates that the cost of wind turbines have “steeply” dropped, falling to $770-$850 per kilowatt from $1,800 per kilowatt in 2008.
Growth in the wind energy sector is also sustainable, with wind turbines producing no carbon emissions that contribute to warming global temperatures. Establishing a stronger clean energy sector is critical to the Biden Administration’s lofty goals of reaching a net zero economy by 2050.
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a series of industry-backed actions aimed at reducing the climate impact of air travel, with a goal of cutting aviation emissions by 20 percent by 2030.
The departments of Energy, Transportation and Agriculture will collaborate on a goal of meeting 100 percent of aviation fuel demand — around 35 billion gallons a year — with sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) by 2050. SAFs are defined as those that reduce lifecycle greenhouse gases by half compared to conventional fuels. According to a fact sheet released by the White House, the SAF production targets in the executive actions would result in a 20 percent reduction in aviation emissions by the end of the decade and produce 3 billion gallons of sustainable fuel. The industry used about 18.3 billion gallons of fuel altogether in 2019.
The White House also announced 14 grants totaling more than $3.6 million that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will disburse to develop and test new sustainable fuels.
Biden Administration outlines how solar could be nearly half of electricity supply by 2050
The White House on Wednesday outlined a plan for solar energy to supply nearly half of the nation’s electricity by 2050. The ambitious outline would see solar rising from 3% of generation in 2020 to 40% by 2035 before ultimately hitting 45% by 2050.
Heavy spending across industries will be required to meet that blueprint. U.S. solar installations hit a record high in 2020, but yearly solar capacity additions will need to double annually through 2025, before quadrupling from 2020′s level each year between 2025 and 2030. Falling costs and supportive policies including tax incentives have boosted solar’s robust growth over the last decade.
The report, issued by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said solar capacity will need to reach 1,600 gigawatts by 2050. This is more than the total electrical consumption from residential and commercial buildings today.
The solar power study is based on the Biden administration’s larger plan to have an emissions-free grid by 2035, with the broader energy system decarbonizing by 2050. Other zero-carbon energy sources, most notably wind, would account for the generation not supplied by solar.
“The study illuminates the fact that solar, our cheapest and fastest-growing source of clean energy, could produce enough electricity to power all of the homes in the U.S. by 2035 and employ as many as 1.5 million people in the process,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.