Earth Equity News

China’s Push into Wind Worries U.S. Industry. By Tom Zeller Jr. and Keith Bradsher, NYTimes, 12/16/10. “Goldwind and other Chinese-owned companies plan a big push into the American wind power market in coming months. While proponents say the Chinese manufacturers should be welcomed as an engine for creating more green jobs and speeding the adoption of renewable energy in this country, others see a threat to workers and profits in the still-embryonic American wind industry… By entering the United States, the Chinese industry is coming to a world leader in wind energy capacity: roughly 41 gigawatts, or enough to power the equivalent of 10 million American homes. Only China itself, which recently passed American output, generates more wind power -- 43 gigawatts -- although that is spread over a population more than four times the size of the population of the United States. But American wind output still meets only a small portion of the nation’s overall demand for electricity -- about 2% -- compared with countries like Spain, which gets about 14% of its electrical power from the wind.” Related NYTimes articles: Wind Power for Boston, Made in China, 12/16/10; To Conquer Wind Power, China Writes the Rules, 12/15/10.