In the past decade, the size of the wind energy market has grown exponentially, powered by technology innovations and favorable economies of scale.
China and the US are to thank for this growth. As of 2020, both countries had installed approximately three quarters of all new world installations, which amount to more than 50% of the global wind energy capacity.
Such power capacity means that our Earth can avoid more than 1.1. billion tones of CO2 annually, which roughly equate to same amount of carbon emissions coming annually from South America.
And yet, this rate of growth does not appear appear to be fast enough to achieve net zero by 2050.
In fact, to avoid serious climate change repercussions, the industry should install a minimum of 180 GW per year, and scale up to 280 GW by 2030.
So what can be done to meet these points?
For starters, governments can help out the industry by rethinking administrative processes to accelerate licensing and permitting for projects.
Moreover, investing in wind energy infrastructure will always help in scaling up installations.
Some countries with potential for new market capacity include:
1. China
2. The Netherlands
3. Belgium
4. United Kingdom
5. Germany
Of course, upgrading will not only require massive developments in technology, funding and processing, but it will also heavily rely on the manpower.
Training future professionals and making sure they are matched with the right opportunities for their expertise should also be at the top of the political, governmental and corporate agenda.
