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We're nowhere near that limit. From Wikipedia: According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the contiguous United States has the potential for 10,459
by danielharan 15y ago
We're nowhere near that limit. From Wikipedia:
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the contiguous United States has the potential for 10,459 GW of onshore wind power. The capacity could generate 37 petawatt-hours (PW·h) annually, an amount nine times larger than current total U.S. electricity consumption. The U.S. also has large wind resources in Alaska, and Hawaii.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_United_States
- ams6110 15y agoSince we're engaging in fantasy (for now) what would happen if we DID extract that much energy (or even a significant fraction of that) from the atmosphere? What kind of climate change would that precipitate?
- danielharan 15y agoNone. The amount of energy extractable by wind turbines is only a tiny fraction of the total, close to the surface.