Large Potential for Wind- Limited Feasibility

I’ve completed my initial calculations of the potential for wind energy in the US. There is a huge discrepancy between how much wind power exists, and how much we could actually capture with the constraints of land area. The US Department of Energy released a plan in 2006 to have 20% wind energy by 2030, meaning 300 MW or 3.6 quads. This would cost about $47 billion dollars (in 2011 dollars). It would take up 50,000 km² of space, though the footprint of all the infrastructure including turbines and roads would only be 1,000-2,500 km². The total space needed would amount to about .5% of the US’s land area. However, the capacity for wind energy is far beyond this scenario. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that the US potential for wind in the 48 states is 10.5 TW or 126 quads. This would have the installation cost of approximately $2.2 x 10⁴, which is significantly less than our estimate the cost for achieving our country’s nuclear potential. However, it would require 26.89% of the land area.