While presently only 0.03 TW of energy was extracted from wind in 2008, and there is room for a considerable expansion of this technology with relatively insignificant effects on the climate, any future expansion on a global scale must take account that the potential for extraction of wind energy is finite according to the nature of the Earth system.

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The leaders of countries that have spent heavily on solar and wind assumed that the erratic nature of these sources, and that the lack of storage, can be compensated by installing the facilities over a broad geographical area.

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But the intermittent nature of wind power can cause just that sort of variability.

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Also, since the necessarily erratic nature of wind power necessitates the development of energy-storage technologies to guarantee continuous supply, wind power can also act as a spur to the development of a hydrogen economy in which cars no longer require petroleum fuel.

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Zhengrong Shi, chairman of China's solar energy giant Suntech Power and Tulsi Tanti of India's wind company Suzlon Energy have both netted billions in recent years by harvesting nature's own power sources.

FORBES: Magazine Article