From The Workbench - Alternative + Renewable Energy Blog Valuable information for do-it-yourselfers interested in the latest in alternative + renewable energy

Wow, just yesterday we were talking about how Ohio is doing great things to incorporate alternative energy, wind power especially, in their energy future, and today, I find this?!  What a week!  As the title says, the United States has officially become the single largest wind power producer in the entire world!  That is an honor we are PROUD to take, and one of the only times the perceived “bigger is better” mentality of us Americans seems, well, awesome!

That’s right, the U.S. has officially overtaken Germany as the largest producer of wind power on the planet.  Try this on for size…using wind power alone, the United States generates enough energy to completely eliminate the burning of 91 MILLION barrels of oil each year.  91 MILLION Barrels!  Wow.  Reports are saying:

“US wind producers enjoyed another record year of growth in 2008—the third in a row. The country now has an installed wind power capacity well in excess of 21,000 megawatts (MW), enough to supply electricity to over 5.5 million American homes…“Wind energy installations are well ahead of the curve for contributing 20% of the U.S. electric power supply by 2030 as envisioned by the U.S. Department of Energy.”

I couldn’t be prouder.  The article mentioned, and I couldn’t agree more, that this makes it all the more exciting for the next 4 years.  All of this progress on alternative energy was made during a political time of almost indifference towards alternative energy.  Imagine what we can do if we have an administration that is pushing for it full steam ahead!  Keep up the great work guys, this is truly great news!

Image via Wikipedia