Wind Power Fact Sheet

Wind power capacity is an indicator of building a sustainable economy because wind is poised to become the foundation of the new energy economy. 

The wind power capacity installed worldwide would be enough to meet the residential electricity needs of the European Union’s 506 million people.

Wind is abundant, carbon-free and nondepletable.  It uses no water, no fuel, and little land.

Although a wind farm can cover many square miles, turbines occupy only 1 percent of that area, leaving space for growing crops or grazing livestock.

Unlike coal, gas, and nuclear power plants, wind farms do not require water for cooling.

In China, wind-generated electricity surpassed generation from nuclear power plants for the first time in 2012.  Wind’s advantage over nuclear increased dramatically in 2013.

In the United States, wind accounted for at least 12 percent of the electricity generated in nine states in 2013, including Iowa (27 percent) and South Dakota (26 percent).

Texas, long the leading oil-producing state, is now the U.S. wind power leader.

Wind Power Fact Sheet