Wind could power entire world, says studies

WASHINGTON -- Two new studies say Earth has more than enough wind to power the entire world, at least technically.

But the research looks only at physics, not finances. Other experts note it would be too costly to put up all those wind turbines and transmit energy to all consumers.

The studies are by two different U.S. science teams and were published in separate journals Sunday and Monday. They calculate existing wind turbine technology could produce hundreds of trillions of watts of power. That's more than 10 times what the world now consumes.

Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution for Science is a co-author of one of the studies. He says the research shows that harnessing wind's potential is more about economics than wind availability.