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Oceanographers at the University of Rhode Island have analyzed long-term data from several anemometers in southern New England and found that average wind speeds have declined by about 15 percent at inland sites while speeds have remained steady at an offshore site.
"The Department of Energy wants the U.S. to have 20 percent of its electricity generated from wind power by 2030, but if this trend of declining wind speeds is widespread across the country, then that could have a significant effect on the future of wind energy here," said Knorr.
Knorr and Merrill recently installed a permanent tower at the URI Narragansett Bay Campus to begin long-term data collection of wind speeds for further analysis. They also plan to analyze data from a number of other sites where long-term data on wind speeds have been recorded and compare it to the data from their initial sites.