Preface: Wind turbines: aeromechanics and farm optimization

Excerpt

With the oil and gas supply security and climate change emerging as high concerns, the need for renewable energy sources to alleviate dependence on hydrocarbons and reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is becoming increasingly urgent. Wind energy is one of the cleanest renewable power sources in the world today. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the Wind Vision study where the costs and benefits of continued investments on wind energy was quantified. The study evaluated an ambitious, yet credible scenario in which wind energy will serve 20% of the nation’s total electric power demand by 2030, and 35% by 2050. In Europe, the wind power generation accounted for 15% of all European electricity demand in the past year. Wind power installation in China has been growing by an annual rate of ~ 10% in recent years. Currently, wind power has become the second largest renewable energy in China, only after hydro-power. …