Wind energy's emissions reductions: A statistical analysis

摘要

As wind energy's global growth has continued, spurred by improving technology and rapidly declining costs, wind energy's impact on reducing pollution has become even clearer. This analysis uses publicly available government data from the U.S. and Europe to document the correlation between increased wind energy use and decreased electric sector air emissions, as well as exploring other potential explanatory factors for the observed declines in emissions intensity. Separately, the analysis tests and finds no support for the hypothesis that increasing use of wind energy significantly reduces the efficiency of fossil-fired power plants.