… is not the fossil fuel industry. It’s lack of wind, and NewScientist (27 February 2016) is on it:
The first half of last year saw the lowest average wind speeds for almost half a century across much of North America. The electricity output of US wind farms fell 6 per cent despite their capacity increasing by 9 per cent.
Now, weather watchers say the wind drought is back. “Low-wind conditions have returned to the US,” says Michael Brower of AWS Truepower, a wind-power consultancy. “The possibility of a prolonged wind drought is on the minds of many in the wind industry.”
So far, the wind drought hasn’t had a significant impact on investment in wind plants, says Daran Rife of energy consultancy DNV GL. But he adds that “investors naturally want to understand what happened in 2015, and what to expect in the future”.
The same issue notes the impact of tropical cyclone Winston on Fiji – the strongest tropical cyclone, and second strongest storm ever recorded with 300 km/h (186 mph) wind speeds.
