Wind turbines in Taft, Texas. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Renewable energy technology in the United States has made leaps and bounds over the last decade, thanks to innovation on the part of researchers, engineers, and policy makers. Companies across all verticals are looking to invest in wind technologies to support their energy needs, with Facebook one of the latest to get on board.
The social giant announced this week that it is preparing to build a wind-powered data center in Texas — the state that is leading the charge with wind development. Tom Furlong, VP of Infrastructure for Facebook, wrote this week that the data center fleet, stationed in Fort Worth, will be 100% powered by renewables, with wind as a vital component. He wrote:
…Fort Worth will be powered by 100% renewable energy, thanks to the 200 MW of new wind energy we helped bring to the Texas grid as part of this deal. Thanks to our continued focus on efficiency and our investments in renewables in recent years, the carbon impact of one person’s use of Facebook for an entire year is the same as the carbon impact of a medium latte.
Facebook has been big on the sustainable data center movement, setting a goal of 50% of its operations to be powered by renewables by 2018. Wind will be a huge component of this objective.
In June, researchers from Stanford University published a report stating that the U.S. can be 100% reliable on renewable energy by 2050 if certain measures are taken. The mix of energy sources is led by wind components: 30.9% onshore wind, 19.1% offshore wind, 30.7% utility-scale photovoltaics, followed by under 10% of the following: rooftop photovoltaics, concentrated solar power with storage, geothermal power, wave power, tidal power, and hydroelectric power.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s report published in May, “Enabling Wind Power Nationwide,” says that wind power currently drives 5% of the U.S.’s total electricity generation. While that number might seem paltry, it is important to consider state-differentiated levels of wind use. The resources exist across all 50 states; as of the May report, utility-scale installations existed in 39 states, and wind power generation exceeded 12% in 11 of those states. Below is a graphic from the Department of Energy highlighting the environmental and energy-consumption benefits of wind power:
Source: DoE
Wind tech had a stellar year in 2014; the 7th annual American Wind Energy Association’s U.S Wind Industry Annual Market Report notes that four times more new wind generating capacity came online last year compared to 2013. The wind energy market is gaining heavy investment from private organizations and individuals, in addition to broadening job opportunities. Indeed, projects abound. Last week, reports emerged detailing the progress on establishing the U.S.’s first offshore wind farm: five structures will attach to the ocean floor off the coast of Rhode Island. Deepwater Wind is building the offshore wind farm, and says that it will have the ability to power 17,000 homes as early as next year. (It bears noting that Europe is far more advanced than the U.S. in terms of offshore wind farm development.)
The potential is clearly there for wind to become a major source of energy supply in the U.S., and fortunately, both public and private entities are interested. The DoE noted in its report that government bodies are working to bolster the use of wind power. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration is creating lighting guidelines for wind turbines with total heights above 500 feet.
It’s only a matter of time before the technology, the funding, and the policy coalesce to make wind an integral part of the U.S.’s energy market.
