2007年是风电行业又一个辉煌的一年，装机容量增长了27%，使全球装机总量达到93900兆瓦。在这一年中，越来越成熟和全球化的行业安装了近20000兆瓦的清洁、无排放的风能发电能力，相当于约250亿欧元（约370亿美元）的投资，到本出版物发布时，全球总发电量无疑将超过10万兆瓦大关。由于石油价格远高于每桶100美元，煤炭和天然气价格处于历史高位，独立于国际大宗商品市场变幻莫测的能源优势从未如此明显。“资源枯竭”永远不会成为风电的问题。我们才刚刚开始挖掘它的潜力。这不仅对寻求实现供应安全的能源规划者来说是好消息，对寻求解决全球人类引发的气候变化危机的政治家和外交官来说也是好消息。随着各国政府疯狂地就2012年后的新协议进行谈判，风电行业随时准备为解决目前大多数人所承认的对我们文明的最大长期威胁作出非常重大的贡献。风能产业也在另一种繁荣中发挥着重要作用：区域经济（再）发展。从德克萨斯州的狭长地带到内蒙古，从施莱斯维格-荷尔斯泰因到安达卢西亚，风电行业正在建设新工厂，扩大地方税收基础，并以不断扩大的速度创造数千个新的“绿领”就业机会。在地方、地区、国家以及全球范围内，风电越来越多地成为我们能源未来问题的答案。2007年将被铭记为全球社会终于开始着手处理气候问题的一年。最值得注意的是，ipcc第四次评估报告的发布，让人们对气候变化的性质和原因产生了所有合理的怀疑。数千名科学家、评论家和编辑自愿抽出时间组成了这个小组，他们是诺贝尔和平奖的当之无愧的获得者，他们与美国前总统戈尔分享了他的电影《不方便的真相》。ipcc报告中一个明确的“带回家”信息是，无论长期目标如何，如果我们有机会避免气候变化带来的最严重破坏，那么我们必须做的一件事就是停止增加温室气体排放：它们必须在下一个十年结束前达到峰值，并开始在全球范围内下降。虽然在气候变化问题上，电力部门远不是唯一的罪魁祸首，但它是最大的单一排放源，约占二氧化碳排放量的38%，约占总排放量的25%。从现在到2020年，我们在电力领域进行重大减排的选择基本上有三个：能源效率和节能；燃料由煤转为气；可再生能源，主要是风电。随着政策制定者越来越意识到这一现实，他们越来越意识到风电的技术成熟度、广泛可用性、部署速度，以及一个蓬勃发展的行业正变得越来越全球化的事实。风电行业已经做好准备，愿意并且能够履行这些日益增长的期望和责任。这是全球风能理事会（global wind energy council）发布的第三份关于全球风电产业现状的年度报告，它全面反映了目前全球70多个国家的风电产业。本报告的数据和国家概况是通过世界各地的gwec成员协会以及其他政府和行业联系人收集的。安理会感谢各撰稿人，并期待着今后各版本的合作同样富有成果。
2007 was yet another banner year for the wind industry, with a 27% increase in installed capacity, bringing the global total to 93,900 mw. the increasingly mature and global industry installed close to 20,000 mw of clean, emissions free wind energy capacity in the course of the year, representing about € 25 billion (about $us 37 billion) of investment, and by the time this publication is released, the total global capacity will no doubt have passed the 100,000 mw mark. with the price of oil well over $us 100 per barrel, and the price of coal and gas at historically high levels, the advantages of an energy source independent from the vagaries of the international commodities markets has never been clearer. ‘resource depletion’ will never be a problem for wind power. we have only just begun to scratch the surface of its potential. this is good news not only for energy planners seeking to achieve security of supply, but also for politicians and diplomats searching for solutions to the global crisis of human-induced climate change. as governments frantically negotiate a new agreement for the period after 2012, the wind industry stands ready to make a very substantial contribution to solving what most now acknowledge is the greatest long term threat to our civilization. the wind energy industry is also playing a major role in another kind of boom: regional economic (re)development. from the texas panhandle to inner mongolia, and from schleswig-holstein to andaluca, the wind industry is building new factories, expanding local tax bases and creating thousand of new ‘green collar’ jobs at an ever-expanding rate. at the local, regional, and national level as well as globally, wind power is more and more often the answer to questions about our energy future. 2007 will be remembered as the year when the global community finally started to get to grips with the climate issue. most notably, the release of the ipcc’s 4th assessment report put all reasonable doubts to rest about the nature and causes of climate change. the thousands of scientists, reviewers and editors who volunteer their time to make up the panel were the much deserved recipients of the nobel peace prize, shared with former us vide-president al gore for his film ‘an inconvenient truth’. one clear ‘take home’ message from the ipcc report is that regardless of long term targets, if we are going to have any chance of avoiding the worst ravages of climate change, then the one thing we must do is to stop increasing greenhouse gas emissions: they must peak and begin to decline globally before the end of the next decade. while the power sector is far from being the only culprit when it comes to climate change, it is the largest single source of emissions, accounting for about 38% of co2 emissions, and about 25% of overall emissions. our options for making major emissions reductions in the power sector between now and 2020 are basically three: energy efficiency and conservation; fuel switching from coal to gas; and renewable energy, primarily wind power. as policy makers become more aware of this reality, they appreciate more and more wind power’s technological maturity, widespread availability, speed of deployment, and the fact that there is a robust, growing industry becoming more and more global with every passing year. the wind industry is ready, willing and able to fulfill these growing expectations and responsibilities. this is the third annual report on the status of the global wind industry by the global wind energy council, and it provides a comprehensive snapshot of this global industry, which is now present in more than 70 countries. the data and country profiles for this report have been collected through gwec’s member associations around the world and additional government and industry contacts. the council wishes to thank the contributors and is looking forward to an equally fruitful cooperation for future editions.