3Tier puts out global wind map

Seattle-based 3Tier, an energy assessment company, has released a global wind map that can help countries and organizations look at the potential wind resources in their area.

"With more than 1.3 billion people around the world with no access to electricity, REmapping the World will change the way we look at the world's renewable energy resources through sophisticated mapping technology," said Kenneth Westrick, CEO and founder of 3Tier.

While some information from the online map, such as average annual wind speed, is available for free, detailed assessment reports for a particular location do have a pricetag, coming in at $1,000 for a standard report and $2,500 for a professional assessment.

The map is not completely global yet, but over the next 21 months, 3Tier said it plans to continue to map the world for wind at 5 kilometers, country by country, based on a priority order that takes into account renewable energy policies, availability of the wind resource, and economic development status.

"If we want developing nations to 'leapfrog' over fossil fuels, they need information about what renewable energy resources or combination of resources exist," said Westrick.

Beginning in 2009, 3Tier said it plans to give the same global treatment to solar, releasing assessment maps for regions around the world based on the same priorities.

3Tier, which is backed by renewable energy investor Good Energies, said the map can provide global wind data at an 80 meter height over a 15 km area for a single year.

As a result, the company said it determined that more than 40 percent of the world's land mass has wind speeds at more than 6 meters per second.

Although some of that land is not accessible for commercial development, 3Tier said the potential for future renewable projects is quite large.

According to the company, currently less than one-tenth of one percent of the global land mass has been developed for large-scale wind projects.