The exploitation of wind energy dates thousands of years of history, where
societies used wind as solution for many of their daily applications. During the last
century, globally electricity needs were covered almost exclusively from fossil-fuel
based technologies resulting in a negative impact on the environment. Since 1980,
wind energy applications acquired great interest from the global community in order to
cope with security of energy supply and environmental issues. This study presents the
evolution of wind energy throughout the last 30 years, along with its prospects for
covering a considerable percentage of the future global electrical demand. Furthermore,
available information concerning the major wind energy markets has been analysed and
revealed in general the existing trends of wind energy for the next years to come. In
this context, technology and financial aspects along with environmental issues arising
from wind power projects’ implementation are investigated in order to provide all the
necessary data for acquiring an integrated view of the wind energy future.
Keywords: Economics of Wind Energy, Environmental Impacts, Future
Prospects, Historical Review, Life Cycle Energy Intensity, Onshore-Offshore
Installations, Rotor Diameter, Wind Energy, Wind Energy Markets, Wind Power
Capacity, Wind Technology Improvements.
