History of Wind Power - 21st Century

21st Century

As the 21st century began, fossil fuel was still relatively cheap, but rising concerns over energy security, global warming, and eventual fossil fuel depletion led to an expansion of interest in all available forms of renewable energy. The fledgling commercial wind power industry began expanding at a robust growth rate of about 30% per year, driven by the ready availability of large wind resources, and falling costs due to improved technology and wind farm management. The steady run-up in oil prices after 2003 led to increasing fears that peak oil was imminent, further increasing interest in commercial wind power. Even though wind power generates electricity rather than liquid fuels, and thus is not an immediate substitute for petroleum in most applications (especially transport), fears over petroleum shortages only added to the urgency to expand wind power. Earlier oil crisis had already caused many utility and industrial users of petroleum to shift to coal or natural gas. Natural gas began having its own supply problems, and wind power showed potential for replacing natural gas in electricity generation.