The great wind rush

Right now it is America's turn to be the focus of wind energy activity. Five years and more of project planning, set in motion by the introduction of the Production Tax Credit in 1992, are heading for the finish line (pages 32-40). These are scary times, however. Wind companies are locked into do-or-die installation schedules to beat the tax credit's expiry in June, with fears that a US market crash will follow. If the pace of global wind expansion is to be maintained, much will depend on the speed at which the EC's proposal for a European protected market for renewables (page 18) can be pushed through the legislative system.