Global potential for wind-generated electricity Xi Lua, Michael B. McElroya,b,1, and Juha Kiviluomac aSchool of Engineering and Applied Science, Cruft Lab 211, and bDepartment of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 100E Peirce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; and cVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P. O. Box 1000, 02044 VTT, Finland Communicated by James G. Anderson, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, April 29, 2009 (received for review November 6, 2008) The potential of wind power as a global source of electricity is assessed by using winds derived through assimilation of data from a variety of meteorological sources. The analysis indicates that a network of land-based 2.5-megawatt (MW) turbines restricted to nonforested, ice-free, nonurban areas operating at as little as20%of their rated capacity could supply >40 times current worldwide consumption of electricity, >5 times total global use of energy in all forms. Resources in the contiguous United States, specifically in the central plain states, could accommodate as much as 16 times total current demand for electricity in the United States. Estimates are given also for quantities of electricity that could be obtained by using a network of 3.6-MW turbines deployed in ocean waters with depths <200 m within 50 nautical miles (92.6 km) of closest coastlines.

Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air A popular book by David J.C. MacKay Professor of Natural Philosophy Department of Physics University of Cambridge

‘Power dressing’ could take on an entirely new meaning thanks to novel energy-scavenging textile fibres created by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US. They claim that a pair of trousers worn by a hiker or a tent fluttering in the breeze could generate enough electricity to charge a mobile phone, if they were made from fabric woven from the fibres.