{
  "id": "R42023",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R42023",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 416241,
      "date": "2013-01-16",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T21:27:51.622863",
      "title": "U.S. Wind Turbine Manufacturing: Federal Support for an Emerging Industry",
      "summary": "Increasing U.S. energy supply diversity has been the goal of many Presidents and Congresses. This commitment has been prompted by concerns about national security, the environment, and the U.S. balance of payments. Investments in new energy sources also have been seen as a way to expand domestic manufacturing. For all of these reasons, the federal government has a variety of policies to promote wind power. \nExpanding the use of wind energy requires installation of wind turbines. These are complex machines composed of some 8,000 components, created from basic industrial materials such as steel, aluminum, concrete, and fiberglass. Major components in a wind turbine include the rotor blades, a nacelle and controls (the heart and brain of a wind turbine), a tower, and other parts such as large bearings, transformers, gearboxes, and generators. Turbine manufacturing involves an extensive supply chain. Until recently, Europe has been the hub for turbine production, supported by national renewable energy deployment policies in countries such as Denmark, Germany, and Spain. However, support for renewable energy including wind power has begun to wane across Europe as governments there reduce or remove some subsidies. Competitive wind turbine manufacturing sectors are also located in India and Japan and are emerging in China and South Korea.\nU.S. and foreign manufacturers have expanded their capacity in the United States to assemble and produce wind turbines and components. About 470 U.S. manufacturing facilities produced wind turbines and components in 2011, up from as few as 30 in 2004. An estimated 30,000 U.S. workers were employed in the manufacturing of wind turbines in 2011. Because turbine blades, towers, and certain other components are large and difficult to transport, manufacturing clusters have developed in certain states, notably Colorado, Iowa, and Texas, which offer proximity to the best locations for wind energy production. The U.S. wind turbine manufacturing industry also depends on imports, with the majority coming from European countries, where the technical ability to produce large wind turbines was developed. Although turbine manufacturers\u2019 supply chains are global, recent investments are estimated to have raised the share of parts manufactured in the United States to 67% in 2011, up from 35% in 2005-2006.\nThe outlook for wind turbine manufacturing in the United States is more uncertain now than in recent years. For the past two decades, a variety of federal laws and state policies have encouraged both wind energy production and the use of U.S.-made equipment to generate that energy. A continuing challenge for the industry is uncertainty about one main federal policy tool in the deployment of wind power, the production tax credit (PTC), which Congress has extended eight times and let lapse on four occasions. Most recently, the PTC expired at the end of 2012, but a few days later, Congress extended it through year-end 2013. At least a dozen wind turbine manufacturers announced layoffs or hiring freezes at U.S. facilities in 2012, citing concern about the PTC\u2019s future as one reason. Other factors affecting the health of the U.S. wind industry are intense price competition from natural gas, an oversupply in wind turbines, and softening demand for renewable electricity.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42023",
          "sha1": "1cad3ed15614167f12e82f0e102b74981bbb8186",
          "filename": "files/20130116_R42023_1cad3ed15614167f12e82f0e102b74981bbb8186.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42023",
          "sha1": "0701ce0f0c55376a7d3d850716a9a0adb8043537",
          "filename": "files/20130116_R42023_0701ce0f0c55376a7d3d850716a9a0adb8043537.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 2061,
          "name": "Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 278,
          "name": "China, Taiwan, and Mongolia"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4402,
          "name": "Energy Law and Policy"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4602,
          "name": "Manufacturing Policy"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc809441/",
      "id": "R42023_2012Dec18",
      "date": "2012-12-18",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "U.S. Wind Turbine Manufacturing: Federal Support for an Emerging Industry",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20121218_R42023_e21563512b226a5916c8836ff41f4ae399f499ac.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20121218_R42023_e21563512b226a5916c8836ff41f4ae399f499ac.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc93909/",
      "id": "R42023_2011Sep23",
      "date": "2011-09-23",
      "retrieved": "2012-07-24T12:39:36",
      "title": "U.S. Wind Turbine Manufacturing: Federal Support for an Emerging Industry",
      "summary": "This report looks at how U.S. energy supply can be increased by wind power, which is a secure, environmentally-friendly, and economical source of power. Specific topics addressed are the components and manufacturing of wind turbines, and legislation mandating production of turbines and production of wind power.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20110923_R42023_dc7445aa7e4f951135fdd685625d852aa429f56e.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20110923_R42023_dc7445aa7e4f951135fdd685625d852aa429f56e.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Wind power",
          "name": "Wind power"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Alternative energy sources",
          "name": "Alternative energy sources"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Energy",
          "name": "Energy"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Energy Policy",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Industry and Trade"
  ]
}