根據美國能源部1日所公佈的第一份「美國風力發電設備、成本和成果趨勢年度報告」指出,美國2006年風力發電量共增加了27%,在2005年和2006也是全球風力發電成長最快速的國家。
美國在2006年的風力發電量為2454百萬瓦特,足夠供應像費城這種城市規模的所有家庭用電,美國風力發電量約佔全球風力發電市場16%,緊接在後的為德國、印度、西班牙和中國。
但美國風力能源協會近日提出警告,表示目前在美國國會通過的一項新法案,恐將重挫風力發電工業好幾年。此法案一旦通過,任何新的風力發電計劃將被禁止,直到新的美國漁業與野生動物局法規公佈,屆時每個葉輪機,甚或是小型居住地點,都需經過漁業與野生動物局的認證。
依據此法條,未來若業者使用未經批准的葉輪機發電,即使是家庭自行使用,也會被視為非法行為而遭罰款5萬美元或判一年有期徒刑。
U.S. wind power capacity increased by 27 percent in 2006 and the country had the fastest growing wind power capacity in the world in 2005 and 2006, according to Energy Department's first Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends, released Friday.
In 2006, the U.S. installed 2,454 MW of wind power capacity, enough to power the homes in a city the size of Philadelphia. The U.S. produced roughly 16 percent of the worldwide wind market, followed by Germany, India, Spain, and China.
But the American Wind Energy Association, AWEA, an industry group, warns that a new bill making its way through Congress could derail the wind power industry for years.
The provision, Subtitle D of H.R. 2337, would bar any new wind power project until new Fish and Wildlife Service, FWS, rules are issued and require FWS certification of every turbine, even small residential units.
The bill would make it a crime, punishable by a $50,000 fine or a year in jail, to construct or generate electricity from an unapproved turbine, even for home use.
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