ABSTRACT It is still possible to limit greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the 2 °C warming threshold for dangerous climate change1. Here we explore the potential role of expanded wind energy

deployment in climate change mitigation efforts. At present, most turbines are located in extra-tropical Asia, Europe and North America2,3, where climate projections indicate continuity of

the abundant wind resource during this century4,5. Scenarios from international agencies indicate that this virtually carbon-free source could supply 10–31% of electricity worldwide by 2050

(refs 2, 6). Using these projections within Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) climate forcing scenarios7, we show that dependent on the

generation must be coupled with reduced energy use. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS

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institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS ESCALATING WIND POWER SHORTAGES DURING HEATWAVES Article Open access 28 March

2025 CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON WIND POWER GENERATION Article 20 October 2020 CO-BENEFITS OF CARBON NEUTRALITY IN ENHANCING AND STABILIZING SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY Article 05 June 2023

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references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was financially supported in part by NSF# 1067007 and 1019603 and DoE# DE-EE0005379. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Sibley School of

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA R. J. Barthelmie * Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

14853, USA S. C. Pryor Authors * R. J. Barthelmie View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * S. C. Pryor View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS R.J.B. and S.C.P. designed the study. R.J.B. carried out most of the data analysis. R.J.B. and S.C.P. co-wrote the paper.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to R. J. Barthelmie. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION (PDF 266 KB) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Barthelmie, R., Pryor, S. Potential contribution of wind energy to climate

change mitigation. _Nature Clim Change_ 4, 684–688 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2269 Download citation * Received: 18 February 2014 * Accepted: 10 May 2014 * Published: 08 June

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