There’s ample wind in the United States to supply all the country’s electricity, according to Mark Z. Jacobson of Stanford University and his colleague Cristina L. Archer. They base that claim on data from about 2,400 locations in North America. Wind power can be produced economically if the average wind speed at windmill height exceeds 6.9 meters per second, the researchers note in the July 16 Journal of Geophysical Research (Atmospheres).
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