为了降低与气候变化相关的温室气体排放，美国发挥了引领全球的作用，利用风能是其中的一个方面。

可再生能源技术一旦取得高于传统能源的成本竞争优势就能够加速发展。新发布的一份报告认为，风能几乎已经达到了这个目标。

白宫的总统能源和气候变化副助理丹•尤特克（Dan Utech）表示，“风能前景报告表明，到2050年，所有50个州都能获得供电级能源。”

美国能源部负责科学和能源的副部长林恩•奥尔（Lynn Orr）说，“与我国经济广泛使用的其他能源形式相比较，风能处于成本平价的尖端。美国能源部准备全力以赴向终点冲刺。”

风能前景报告的全称是“风能前景：美国风能的新时代（Wind Vision: A New Era for Wind Power in the United States）”。报告发表的预测进一步体现了欧巴马总统通过能源多样化推动美国实现清洁能源经济的承诺。

在这个十年，风能行业已经成为美国增长最快的能源部门。60多兆瓦的电力已经送上输电线路，足以为1,600万住户提供电力，同时风能的成本下降了90%以上。

风力涡轮现已为大多数州提供公用服务，每年发电量占全国的4.5%。能源部于3月12日发布的简报指出，到 2020年风力发电量将占全国的10%，到2050年占35%。

到2050年，扩大利用零排放的风能可减少 12.3兆吨的温室气体。风能还有助于减少其他污染物，包括数百万吨的二氧化硫、氮氧化物和细颗粒物。

降低排放，清洁空气，有利于健康，降低污染造成的财产损失。报告预计降低污染可节省1,000多亿美元。 

Catch a breeze. Turn on the lights. Wind power is growing U.S. energy source.
 
Why wind? Better wind power technology will lead to lower costs. More wind turbines and transmission capacity will expand deployment. Put those trends together and wind power will be turning on the lights in homes all over the United States by 2050, the U.S. Energy Department predicts.

It’s just one of the reasons that the United States is a global leader in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions tied to climate change.

Use of renewable energy technologies speeds up when they become cost-competitive with traditional energy sources. A new report finds wind power is almost there.

The projections put forth in “Wind Vision: A New Era for Wind Power in the United States” reinforce President Obama’s commitment to move the nation to a clean energy economy by diversifying energy sources.

 “This wind vision report shows that all 50 states could have utility-scale energy by 2050,”said Dan Utech, the White House’s deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change.

“Wind energy is at the cusp of cost-parity with other forms of energy that we use widely in our economy,” said Lynn Orr, under secretary of energy for science and energy.

In this decade, the wind industry has become the United States’ fastest-growing energy sector. More than 60 gigawatts of power capacity have come online — enough to power 16 million homes — and the cost of wind energy has declined by more than 90 percent.  

Wind turbines now provide utility service in a majority of the 50 states, generating 4.5 percent of the nation’s electricity annually. The Energy Department report released March 12 projects that percentage will grow to 10 percent in 2020 and 35 percent in 2050.

Wind is a no-emissions energy source, so expanding its use could eliminate 12.3 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Wind energy also will help cut emissions of other pollutants, including millions of tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter.

The cleaner air resulting from reduced emissions will mean better health and less property damage due to pollution. The report projects savings from reduced pollution could exceed $100 billion.

With clean energy choices expanding, going green doesn’t mean doing without. Do you know where your power comes from?