America is now engaging in a fast paced economic shift towards clean energy to gradually reduce unnecessary dependence on costly and dirty fossil fuels. There are several specific clean energy sources which are being implemented at both residential and utility scale applications in the USA to replace fossil fuels:

WIND FARMS:

Wind powered utility scale electrical power plants are now economically competetive with natural gas plants in areas where consistent moderate to high winds are available (average wind speed greater than 14 miles per hour):

ALASKA: - ANCHORAGE - KOTZEBUE - SELAWIK - ST.PAUL - WALES

TEXAS - ARIZONA - MONTANA

The largest commercially available wind turbine in the USA at this time is GE Wind's 3.6 MW Turbine. Read more about GE Wind and the turbines they have installed in the USA and internationally.

Germany now leads the world with the first 5 MW wind turbine in service since February this year. Germany is the world's leading producer of wind energy, with 17,132 megawatts of installed wind power capacity by June of 2005, according to Deutsches Windenergie-Institut (DEWI), the German wind energy institute.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, a total of 6,740 megawatts of wind energy capacity was installed in the USA as of January 24, 2005.

SOLAR POWER PLANTS:

Solar power plants can be located on roof tops or on undeveloped land, they also are now used by many homeowners to reduce power costs. On January 12, 2006, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved the California Solar Initiative (CSI), committing a combined $3.2 billion in incentive funds to drive consumers toward solar power over the next 11 years. The CSI is designed to provide rebates for homeowners, businesses, farmers and government projects investing in rooftop solar.

ARIZONA - CALIFORNIA - OREGON - NEW YORK

Students from University of Michigan built a solar powered car this year which averaged 46 mph over a 2,500 mile race from Austin, Texas to Calgary, Alberta. In June this year, the first sustainable 48 hour flight (day & night) of an unmanned solar powered aircraft was achieved in California.

HYDROGEN POWERED VEHICLES:

The future of personal transportation in the USA will be hydrogen powered cars that we re-fill at fuel stations powered by wind and/or solar energy. In order to provide adequate fueling stations, significant investment must be made in HYDROGEN HIGHWAYS in each state of the USA.

In 1999, the world's first public filling station for gaseous and liquid hydrogen opened in Germany at Munich Airport. In the USA hydrogen filling stations for cars have opened this year in New York and California.

Most vehicles will be powered by hydrogen fuel cells, while some cars can be converted so that they can use hydrogen in a standard internal combustion engine.

Until hydrogen fuel cell cars and fuel stations are more affordable and available, there will be a transition time period when gasoline-electric hybrid cars will dominate the market for fuel economy.