Wind turbines dot the landscape near West Cape, P.E.I.BRIAN McINNIS/THE CANADIAN PRESS
In an ideal scenario, wind power could generate more than one-fifth of the world's electricity by 2030, the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace International said in a report released Tuesday.
The projections are based on an optimistic situation where governments around the world show "a clear and unambiguous commitment to renewable energy" and "the political will necessary to carry it forward." There would also have to be a substantial shift to energy conservation.
Under less favourable circumstances, where existing programs remain in place or there are only modest new policies, the shift would be less dramatic. Still, wind power could supply between 5 and 19 per cent of world electricity demand, the report said.
Jobs
Under the ideal scenario, as many as two million people could be employed in the wind power sector by 2020, and more than three million by 2030.
Greenhouse gases
The most important environmental benefit of wind power is reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the report says. Under the ideal scenario, about 3.3 billion tonnes of CO2 would be eliminated each year, by 2030.
Canada's position
With about 3,300 megawatts of wind power generation in place at the end of 2009, wind generates just over 1 per cent of Canada's electricity. While Canada has "an immense wind resource," the report says, one setback for the industry here is the cancellation of Ottawa's EcoEnergy subsidy.
Drawbacks
The report makes no mention of the pushbacks against wind power - concerns about health effects or worries about a landscape despoiled by enormous turbines. Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada said that while there are clearly some places turbines should not be placed, aesthetic concerns may have to be put aside. Climate change is a huge threat to biodiversity and human communities, he said, so "it will require a revolution in our energy system" to fix it.