GP: Wind Force 12

["Tom Gray" <tomgray@igc.org>]

The Will for Wind

Wind power can meet 12% of global electricity within two decades: Needs
political will

Bali, Indonesia 28 May 2002: Greenpeace and the wind energy industry today
released a
global blueprint to provide 12% of the world's future electricity by 2020*
to prove to
governments meeting at the final pre - summit meeting in Bali that the only
thing that
stands in the way of a renewable energy revolution is the lack of political
will.

"Governments coming to the table to sort out the energy needs for the future
through
the Earth Summit will fail in their mandate if they ignore the industrial
potential of wind
power. Twelve per cent is the equivalent total amount of electricity used
today in Europe,
or twice that of China," said Corin Millais of Greenpeace. "Wind power
works, it's time for
politicians to do the same. The only barrier is political blindness, and a
woeful ignorance
of what wind power can deliver for the world. If governments ceased their
perverse
subsidies to fossil fuels and nuclear power - $250-300 billion world -wide a
year - we will
have clean affordable energy for the world."

"Wind power has established itself as the fastest growing energy source in
the world. The
growth has been impressive, but this is only the beginning," said Christian
Kjaer of the
European Wind Energy Association. "Wind Force 12 shows that there are no
technical
barriers or resource limits preventing the world from enjoying the dual
benefit of
affordable energy and a sustainable environment. The technology is available
and the
resource will never run out. The wind industry is ready and capable of
meeting this
target, we have the resources and capabilities, yet need stronger political
signals to
deliver."

The report was endorsed by Mark Moody Stuart, former Chairman of Shell and
Co-Chair
of the G8 renewable Energy Task Force. In the foreword to Wind Force 12 he
states "for
wind and other renewable energy sources to spread world-wide, we have to
ensure that
the international finance institutions and export credit agencies are as
willing to make
finance available for renewable energy projects as they have been for what
was
conventional power....we also have to ensure that market distorting
subsidies are
removed."

The report demonstrates that, by 2020, wind power can deliver:

·  12% of global electricity demand, assuming that global demand doubles by
then

·  Creation of 1.475 million jobs

·  Cumulative carbon dioxide savings of 11,768 million tonnes

·  1,261,000 MW wind energy installed generating 3,093 Terrawatt hours (TWh)

·  3,093 TWh is equivalent to the current electricity use of all of Europe,
twice that
of China, two thirds of North America, or three times that of Latin America.

The wind energy industry is confident it can meet the ambitious target -
already wind
power world-wide:

·  Employs around 70,000 people

·  Has an annual turnover of more than US $5 billion

·  Has been growing at an average rate of 40% annually over the past 5 years

·  Meets the electricity needs of around 14 million households, more than 35
million
people

·  By the en d of 2001, global wind power installed was almost 25,000 MW

·  New installations of wind power capacity have surpassed new nuclear
capacity
installation in the past three years

·  During 2001 alone, 6,800 MW of new capacity was installed

*WIND FORCE 12 A BLUEPRINT TO ACHIEVE 12% OF THE WORLD'S ELECTRICITY FROM
WIND POWER BY 2020 Greenpeace and European Wind Energy Association

Contact:

Corin Millais, Greenpeace: +61 409 812 641
Christian Kjaer, European Wind Energy Association: +45 21 23 23 66
christian.kjaer@ewea.org +32 2546 1941
Susan Cavanagh, Greenpeace Media in Bali +62 8179710052
Susan.Cavanagh@ams.greenpeace.org +31 6 212 969 10
Wind Force 12 can be downloaded from:
www.greenpeace.org
www.ewea.org



____________________________________________________________________________
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  * Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology, http://www.crest.org
  * Global Environmental Options, http://www.geonetwork.org
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