| Since late 2000, one of the largest offshore wind farms to date stands in the Øresund strait, which separates Denmark from Sweden. Its 20 turbines, each equipped with a rotor 250 feet (76 m) in diameter, standing 210 feet (64 m) above the water, form an arc with a length of 2.1 miles (3.4 km). With 40 megawatts of power, the farm produces 89 million kWh annually (about 3 percent of the electricity consumption of Copenhagen). By 2030 Denmark plans to satisfy 40 percent of its electricity needs by means of wind energy (as opposed to 13 percent in 2001). Although renewable forms of energy still only make up less than 2 percent of the primary energy used worldwide, the ecological advantages are attracting great interest. Thanks to technical progress, which has reduced the noise created by wind farms (installed about one-third of a mile, or 500 m, from residential areas), critics are fading. And with a 30 percent average annual growth rate in the past four years, wind power seems to be here to stay. |
.&title2=Middelgrunden offshore wind farm, near Copenhagen, Denmark (55°40’ N, 12°38’ E).&title3=Parque eólico offshore de Middelgrunden, en el mar de Copenhague, Dinamarca (55° 40’ N-12° 38’ E). "download in wallpaper")
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