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Global wind power potential: Physical and technological limits

Author

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  • de Castro, Carlos
  • Mediavilla, Margarita
  • Miguel, Luis Javier
  • Frechoso, Fernando
Abstract
This paper is focused on a new methodology for the global assessment of wind power potential. Most of the previous works on the global assessment of the technological potential of wind power have used bottom-up methodologies (e.g. Archer and Jacobson, 2005; Capps and Zender, 2010; Lu et al., 2009). Economic, ecological and other assessments have been developed, based on these technological capacities. However, this paper tries to show that the reported regional and global technological potential are flawed because they do not conserve the energetic balance on Earth, violating the first principle of energy conservation (Gans et al., 2010). We propose a top-down approach, such as that in Miller et al. (2010), to evaluate the physical-geographical potential and, for the first time, to evaluate the global technological wind power potential, while acknowledging energy conservation. The results give roughly 1 TW for the top limit of the future electrical potential of wind energy. This value is much lower than previous estimates and even lower than economic and realizable potentials published for the mid-century (e.g. DeVries et al., 2007; EEA, 2009; Zerta et al., 2008).

Suggested Citation

  • de Castro, Carlos & Mediavilla, Margarita & Miguel, Luis Javier & Frechoso, Fernando, 2011. "Global wind power potential: Physical and technological limits," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6677-6682, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:39:y:2011:i:10:p:6677-6682
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hermann, Weston A., 2006. "Quantifying global exergy resources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(12), pages 1685-1702.
    2. Boccard, Nicolas, 2009. "Capacity factor of wind power realized values vs. estimates," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2679-2688, July.
    3. Hoogwijk, Monique & de Vries, Bert & Turkenburg, Wim, 2004. "Assessment of the global and regional geographical, technical and economic potential of onshore wind energy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 889-919, September.
    4. Chang, Tsang-Jung & Wu, Yu-Ting & Hsu, Hua-Yi & Chu, Chia-Ren & Liao, Chun-Min, 2003. "Assessment of wind characteristics and wind turbine characteristics in Taiwan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 851-871.
    5. Cristina L. Archer & Ken Caldeira, 2009. "Global Assessment of High-Altitude Wind Power," Energies, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-13, May.
    6. de Vries, Bert J.M. & van Vuuren, Detlef P. & Hoogwijk, Monique M., 2007. "Renewable energy sources: Their global potential for the first-half of the 21st century at a global level: An integrated approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2590-2610, April.
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