China´s Maglev wind turbine 20% more energy-efficient http://www.zkenergy.com/en/introduce001.html
UK offshore wind alone outdoes global capacity http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68M00E20100923 SEP-23-2010
------------------------------------------------------ Britain's offshore wind capacity leapfrogged that of the rest of the world combined on Thursday as the largest offshore wind park came into operation off the coast of Kent.
The UK's total offshore capacity thus rose to 1,341 megawatt (MW) on Thursday, compared with 1,100 MW installed in the rest of the world, according to statistics published by RenewableUK, Britain's wind and marine renewables industries association.
Britain has invested heavily in developing its offshore wind industry in a bid to meet its carbon reduction targets as cheaper onshore wind facilities, which were successfully rolled out in countries such as Germany, faced strong local opposition.
With the official inauguration of Swedish utility Vattenfall's Thanet offshore wind farm on Thursday, another 300 MW of renewable energy capacity started producing electricity in Britain.
"In the face of the worst recession in living memory, the UK wind energy industry has once again shown its strength and resilience by racing ahead to deliver another GW of installed capacity in less than 12 months," said RenewableUK chief executive Maria McCaffery.
The opening of the Thanet wind farm also pushed Britain's installed renewable energy capacity to a five-gigawatt (GW).
Renewable energy now provides around nine percent of Britain's electricity consumption, RenewableUK said.
The British government's 2020 target is to have a share of 15 percent of green energy sources in final energy demand. --------------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_China
At the end of 2010, wind power in the People's Republic of China accounted for 41.8 gigawatts (GW) of electricity generating capacity,[1][2] and China has identified wind power as a key growth component of the country's economy.[3] With its large land mass and long coastline, China has exceptional wind resources.[4] Researchers from Harvard and Tsinghua University have found that China could meet all of their electricity demands from wind power through 2030.[5]
By the end of 2008, at least 15 Chinese companies were commercially producing wind turbines and several dozen more were producing components.[6] Turbine sizes of 1.5 MW to 3 MW became common. Leading wind power companies in China were Goldwind, Dongfang Electric, and Sinovel[7] along with most major foreign wind turbine manufacturers.[8] China also increased production of small-scale wind turbines to about 80,000 turbines (80 MW) in 2008. Through all these developments, the Chinese wind industry appeared unaffected by the global financial crisis, according to industry observers.[7]
In 2010, China became the largest wind energy provider worldwide, with the installed wind power capacity reaching 41.8 GW at the end of 2010. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the development of wind energy in China, in terms of scale and rhythm, is absolutely unparalleled in the world. The National People's Congress permanent committee passed a law that requires the Chinese energy companies to purchase all the electricity produced by the renewable energy sector. ---
FC