Denmark is the country within the European union with the highest penetration of wind power in electricity consumption (almost 26%). However, in absolute terms both Spain (22 GW) and Germany (29 GW) vastly exceed Denmark (4 GW) and are two of the largest "wind markets" worldwide (as of end 2011) [1].
In particular, Spain has made a tremendous effort investing in wind energy (tax incentives, subsidies, etc. were granted), and it's amazing to see that in about 15 years, this type of energy went from 0 to about 20% of the total energy produced within the country [2].
Including also the rest of renewables to the mix, it seems obvious that in the coming 15-20 years, it should be possible to generate more than 50% of energy from renewable sources, e.g. solar energy in Spain achieved power grid parity in terms of cost last December [3].
In spite of the current economic downturn, these are pretty amazing times we are living in!
In the United States we have Iowa, where >24% of electricity last year came from wind, and where there's more nameplate capacity of wind than the entire demand of the nation of Denmark.
In particular, Spain has made a tremendous effort investing in wind energy (tax incentives, subsidies, etc. were granted), and it's amazing to see that in about 15 years, this type of energy went from 0 to about 20% of the total energy produced within the country [2].
Including also the rest of renewables to the mix, it seems obvious that in the coming 15-20 years, it should be possible to generate more than 50% of energy from renewable sources, e.g. solar energy in Spain achieved power grid parity in terms of cost last December [3].
In spite of the current economic downturn, these are pretty amazing times we are living in!
[1]: http://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/publi...
[2]: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/es/timeline/957d498ae7...
[3]: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterdetwiler/2012/12/26/solar-g...