4 ms·

While the number is slick, it does not account for the energy needed for cars. (see below for the explanation of this terse statement)

• hayksaakian 11y ago
  the title is pretty specific about 'electricity' as opposed to 'energy'
• higherpurpose 11y ago
  That's why it says electricity. Also, when you can produce this much electricity (already), it makes it possible to fill electric cars' batteries with 100% renewable energy.
  • krasin 11y ago
    My (implied) point was that for every engine / machine that runs on gas / coal, there's an electric alternative. If the goal is to adopt 100% clean / renewable energy, we should count the electricity needs as the current electricity consumption + the electricity we need to run the replacement engines / machines. And that number is going to be significantly higher than wind can deliver.
    • pbreit 11y ago
      Apparently you're wrong and we haven't even gotten to other sources such as hydro and solar.
      • krasin 11y ago
        Hydro (and geo-thermal) are good, but not universally available. Nor California, nor Israel would find it as an option. In opposite, both are desalinating the water using fossil fuels, just to cover basic needs. Solar sounds much better; and its potential crop is much higher than wind. Also, I am not saying that clean/distributed energy system is impossible. I am saying that the metric used in the article is misleading.
  • ekianjo 11y ago
    You will need to burn a whole lot of fossil fuels to make batteries for every car on the road. Thats always ignored by proponents of electric cars who conveniently ignore the fact that batteries manufacturing processes are very dirty and use a number of toxic materials.
    • lyschoening 11y ago
      You also need a lot of energy to make a car, or to build a combustion engine. Yes, battery driven cars are particularly polluting to produce, but a couple tanks full of gasoline will make up for the difference. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/07/21/are-electric-cars-really-that-polluting/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/07/21/are-electr...
  • mrweasel 11y ago
    Denmark isn't currently geared to use electricity from wind mills to recharge electric cars. Well you can fill your battery of cause, but you can't choose to do it at specific times at reduced cost or by wind only. We really do need to get a system in place that can have variable rates.
• mrweasel 11y ago
  That is actually a very valid point, even if the article specifically says electricity. Denmark is frequently running 100%+ wind power, that's nothing new. We also almost always burn coal or waste at the same time. Most house (in the cities) are heated and have hot water provided by either large coal burning power plants, or smaller local gas or waste burning plants. I believe that the politicians have finally allowed excess wind power to be used to produce heat at local heating plants. Previously they needed to pay a CO2 tax for the power they would consume (even if it came from wind mills), that ruined the business case and the excess power was sold or given away to neighboring countries.