Global surface wind speed rises since 2010

BEIJING - Chinese researchers found that the global average surface wind speed has increased since 2010, according to a recent study paper published in the journal of Nature Climate Change.
Wind power, a rapidly growing alternative energy source, has been threatened by reductions in global average surface wind speed since the 1980s.The global average surface wind speed has the potential to seriously affect the efficiency of wind turbine power generation and threaten the global wind power industry.
The research team from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology used wind data worldwide and found the reductions in global average surface wind speed reversed around 2010 and that global wind speeds over land have recovered.
The results showed the recent rate of increase in the global average surface wind speed was three times the rate of decline before 2010, with North America, Europe and Asia showing the most marked change.
In addition, they analyzed that the decade variations of near-surface wind were probably determined by large-scale ocean and atmospheric circulations, rather than by vegetation growth or urbanization. If the improving global surface wind speed persists for another decade, wind power would rise 37 percent up to 3.3 million kWh by 2024, the researchers predicted.

Volkswagen Group China to invest over 4b euros in 2020

TIANJIN - Volkswagen Group China and its partners plan to invest over 4 billion euros (4.4 billion U.S. dollars) in China in 2020, with 40 percent of the investment in the electric vehicle field, including manufacturing, infrastructure construction and R&D, the company said.
In the next few years, the automaker is expected to invest more in electric vehicles than petrol vehicles. It aims to deliver 30 types of new energy vehicles in the Chinese market before 2025, with a sales target of 1.5 million vehicles.
Stephan Wollenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said China’s success in electric mobility would be the core driving force to realize automakers’ sustainable development goals.
In 2020, pure electric vehicles will be put into production in two new plants of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC Volkswagen, with a combined annual production capacity of 600,000 vehicles.
Volkswagen Group China delivered a total of 3.34 million vehicles to Chinese customers in the first 10 months of this year, and more than 42 million vehicles in total since entering the Chinese market.
Volkswagen, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, has 12 vehicle brands, with products selling to 153 countries and regions.