Reinforced Plastics Weekly recently ran a very posi- tive report that stated that the Brussels-based Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) is forecasting that the global wind technology market will grow by over 155%, to reach 240 GW of total installed capa-city, by 2012.

In its ¡®

Global Wind Energy Report 2007¡¯, the GWEC has adjusted its previous forecast to take into account the unexpectedly strong increase in wind energy deployment around the world.

¡°The wind energy market continues to achieve tremendous growth rates, and has now hit 20 GW of new installations a year,¡± says GWEC secretary-general Steve Sawyer.

¡°As a result, we have had to revise even our most ambitious estimates. ¡°The fastest areas of growth for the next five years will be North America and Asia, and, more specifically, the US and China.¡±

The GWEC cites two reasons for this adjustment. Firstly, both the US and the Chinese markets have been growing and will continue to grow at a much faster rate than expected even a year ago. Secondly, the emergence of significant manufacturing capa-city in China will have a greater impact on the growth of the global markets.

While tight production capa-city is going to remain the main limiting factor of further market growth, machines ¡®made in China¡¯ will help take some of the strain out of the current supply situation.

Asia is predicted to overtake Europe as the biggest market, with as much as 12,5 GW of new wind generating capacity installed during 2012, up from 5,4 GW, in 2007. This growth will be mainly led by China. By 2010, China is expected to be the biggest national market globally.

This development is underpinned by a rapidly growing number of domestic manufacturers in China. In 2007, a total of 40 domestic suppliers supplied 56% of the new installations in the Chinese market, up from 41% in 2006.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) formally decided in April, in Budapest, to producde a special report on renewable energy sources and climate change mitigation for completion in 2010.

This special report will be the reference document for governments and policymakers around the world on renewables.

The IPCC¡¯s fourth assessment report highlighted very clearly that, if we are to avoid the worst ravages of man-made climate change, then global greenhouse-gas emissions must begin to decline before 2020. Discussion on longer-term targets will continue as the science evolves and our knowledge improves, but the critical task in the next decade is clear.

As a result of a meeting held in Germany earlier this year, a proposal was developed which will deal with the subject in five main sections: renewable energy and climate change; the individual technologies and their integration into the overall energy system; renewable energy and sustainable develop- ment; climate change mitigation potential and costs; and policy, financing and implementa-tion.

Following the formal adoption in Budapest by the IPCC, the next step will be for governments to nominate experts to compile the vast quantity of liter- ature on the subject, to write the chapters and to review the comments received from expert and government commentators on the three or four drafts of the individual reports.

Eventually, the summary for policymakers will be presented to the full IPCC for adoption, which is currently planned to be convened in 2010.