E-mail this page Print this page Most E-mailed/Most printed    Type size

Clark Howard's Tips

April 4, 2008

Did you know that Denmark generates so much wind power that they've begun selling the excess current to other nearby nations? So what does that mean to you and me in the United States?

The World Wind Energy Association reports that the U.S. has the second greatest installed base for wind power. In fact, we have 5 times more of the capacity to generate wind power than Denmark. We're just in the early innings of capturing this new energy that will help us reduce our reliance on dirty coal. Clark thinks wind, nuclear and solar energies are all great options going forward.

Meanwhile, the Danes also have another initiative in the works that Clark is excited about. Electricity use drops drastically at night as most people go to sleep. So Denmark is planning to put pollution-free electric cars on the road that will be charged at night for free with the country's excess wind power.

If this is what little Denmark is doing, just think what our country can do it we all put our minds to it. We can't be just sit back and be victims of the high price of foreign oil. Clark hopes the next president makes this issue a big deal, instead of just talking about energy independence. In fact, we don't have to have a 100% solution to imported oil; even reducing our demand by 10% with alternative fuels would change the balance of power with those OPEC nations who want to harm us.

Consumer advice courtesy of