Generating wind power in the United States
Context
The USA is the world’s largest historical emitter, responsible for around 25% of all historical emissions. The US is also a high-consuming country, with among the world’s highest per capita emissions.
In 2021, 81% of the country’s primary energy came from fossil fuel production.
Project
The Crow Lake wind power project is a wind farm located near Chamberlain, South Dakota. The project avoids emissions by displacing fossil fuel energy in the grid, and providing renewable wind power instead.
The project is made up of 108 wind turbines on an area of 15,000 hectares, which generate 162 MW of renewable wind energy. It is one of only a few facilities in the United States where a portion of the project is owned by the community, including 600 local farmers and ranchers.
Verification
This project is verified by the Verified Carbon Standard. You can view it on the Verra Registry here.
Climate Solution #2
Onshore wind turbines
Onshore wind turbines generate electricity at a utility scale, comparable to power plants. They replace fossil fuels with emissions-free electricity.
Today, 314,000 wind turbines supply nearly 4 percent of global electricity, and it will soon be much more. In 2015, a record 63 gigawatts of wind power were installed around the world.
Onshore wind farms have small footprints, typically using no more than 1 percent of the land they sit on, so grazing, farming, recreation, or conservation can happen simultaneously with power generation. What’s more, it takes one year or less to build a wind farm—quickly producing energy and a return on investment.