COMBINING POLICY WITH TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO ENABLE WIND ENERGY PROLIFERATION IN THE UNITED STATES

摘要

Many factors are pressuring the United States to take aggressive steps toward moving to a renewable, clean form of energy for electricity production. This study reviews the obstacles that impede the proliferation of wind energy in the United States and identifies major policy, economic, and technology areas that can be focused on to increase its adoption. The project examines the steps taken in five countries which have successfully or are in the process of successfully including wind energy as a significant part of their electricity generation. These countries are Denmark, Germany, Spain, India, and China. The project reviews the policies and investments that were made by the respective governments of each country, and which of these were most successful and why. Then, the applicability of these tactics to the United States is reviewed. From this, a recommendation is made regarding which policies are expected to help make wind energy a significant contributor to electricity production in the United States in the next two decades. To compliment this policy study, this project also reviews technologies which either significantly improve the performance of wind farms or ease the integration into the grid. A method is used to convert the qualitative information gained from this review into a quantitative ranking, drawing attention to the most critical areas for future research and investment. Overall, the results of this study suggest that current US policy regarding renewable energy and climate change is weak at the national level, and insufficient to meet climate change goals. Stronger policy will be required in the US at the national level for this potential to be realized. The policy changes must be accompanied by research and development into a portfolio of future technologies, which will be the focus of a subsequent stage of research.