Imagine a world two decades from now in which a new wind turbine is installed every seven minutes.

That impressive scenario was raised last week in Beijing just before the China Wind Power 2010 conference by Sven Teske, Senior Energy Expert from Greenpeace International.

Teske was commenting on the Global Wind Energy Outlook 2010 report which found wind power could provide about one-fifth of the world’s electricity by 2030.

Ward Van Hout, a student studying Aerospace Engineering at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, tells EWEA why he is a fan of wind energy and why he adopted a wind turbine as part of EWEA’s 2010 campaign…

EWEA: Why do you support wind energy?

Van Hout: I support wind energy because it is the future. Wind energy will help us to overcome the shortage of fossil fuels. There has been an enormous increase in world population which means a drastic increase in energy consumption. And with this comes more and more pollution, higher CO2 concentrations, etc. An excellent alternative is wind energy. On Earth, sufficient wind is available for our energy needs. Strikingly, there is 200 times more wind energy available than current energy demand. Wind power is solar power, meaning that as long as the sun is giving us heat, we can make use of wind turbines to collect that power. It is clear that wind energy is the driving power of the 21st century – the renewable energy age!

Be it a flat-pack chest of drawers or bedside lamps, most of us have bought something from Ikea. And now, the Swedish chain well-known for creating a revolution in home furnishings is at the forefront of a hopefully incoming tide of companies to back wind power.

Ikea has bought six German wind farms, adding to its portfolio of four French wind farms purchased last year and bringing the total number of wind turbines the company owns to 52. The German farms provide enough electricity to power 17 Ikea stores, and in total the firm can now meet10% of its electricity needs with wind power.

The Financial Times reports that Ikea intends to make further investments in wind and solar power in order to meet its long-term goal to secure all its electricity needs from renewable sources.

“We are conscious of our impact on people and the environment, so we feel duty bound to act responsibly in all we do,” Mikael Ohlsson, Chief Executive of Ikea, told the paper.

However, Ikea’s green credentials were tarnished last year when the company was found guilty by French courts of building a new storage unit close to Marseille on envrionmentally sensitive land, Spiegel Online reports.

Ikea joins Google – another company that has invested in wind power. In May, the internet giant invested in two wind farms in the US that generate 169.5 MW of power, enough to provide electricity for more than 55,000 homes.

Wind turbines can adversely affect human health, or so the press and various reports claim from time to time. From noise to shadow flicker affects when it’s bright outside, wind farms have been subject to criticism from those who claim turbines have a negative impact on human health. These arguments are then absorbed and spread by anti-wind groups. But do these claims have any scientific evidence to support them?

A new study published by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council thinks not. “There is currently no published scientific evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects,” it says on its website. Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) says there is no “reliable” evidence to support the claim that turbines have a negative effect, according to the study.

Plans to build the largest wind farm in the US, and possibly the world, took off last week with an announcement that financing worth $1.2 billion had been arranged for four of five initial phases of the ambitious project.

In announcing the deal, Terra-Gen Power said phases two through five of the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC) in Kern County, California would generate a total of 570 megawatts of capacity. Construction on phase one of the project, which is expected to generate 150 MW and required $394 million in financing, began in March.

Located in the Mojave Desert about 120 kilometres north of Los Angeles, the AWEC is, with more expansion in the future, potentially a 3,000-MW wind power development initiative.

A Terra-Gen press release said the AWEC project is underpinned by a 1,550 MW power purchase agreement to sell clean, renewable energy to Southern California Edison.

Jim Pagano, CEO of Terra-Gen, said the project will help the US advance its goal of achieving energy independence in an environmentally responsible manner. “The Alta projects I-V will create more than 1,500 domestic manufacturing, construction and operation and maintenance jobs, and inject more than $600 million into the local economy,” Pagnao added.

Last week’s announcement also caught the attention of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has increasingly become a fan of wind energy and other renewables. “Having the world’s largest wind project break ground in our state is tangible evidence that our pioneering policies are drawing investment, improving the economy and creating jobs now when we need them most,” Schwarzenegger said.