Lu Xi, McElroy Michael B, Kiviluoma Juha
School of Engineering and Applied Science, Cruft Lab 211, Harvard University, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Jul 7;106(27):10933-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0904101106. Epub 2009 Jun 22.
The potential of wind power as a global source of electricity is assessed by using winds derived through assimilation of data from a variety of meteorological sources. The analysis indicates that a network of land-based 2.5-megawatt (MW) turbines restricted to nonforested, ice-free, nonurban areas operating at as little as 20% of their rated capacity could supply >40 times current worldwide consumption of electricity, >5 times total global use of energy in all forms. Resources in the contiguous United States, specifically in the central plain states, could accommodate as much as 16 times total current demand for electricity in the United States. Estimates are given also for quantities of electricity that could be obtained by using a network of 3.6-MW turbines deployed in ocean waters with depths <200 m within 50 nautical miles (92.6 km) of closest coastlines.
通过利用将来自各种气象数据源的数据进行同化处理后得出的风况，对风能作为全球电力来源的潜力进行了评估。分析表明，一个由陆基2.5兆瓦（MW）涡轮机组成的网络，限于在非森林、无冰、非城市地区运行，即使以其额定容量的20%运行，也能够提供超过当前全球电力消耗40倍的电量，超过全球所有形式能源总使用量的5倍。美国本土，特别是中部平原各州的资源，能够满足高达美国当前电力总需求16倍的电量。文中还给出了通过在距离最近海岸线50海里（92.6公里）以内、深度小于200米的海域部署3.6兆瓦涡轮机网络可获得的电量估计值。
