Wind: Abundance
How much wind could we really tap?
What this tab covers How much of this energy there is: the natural flow or stock, the share that could be harnessed, and how much is used today, compared with world primary energy use (592 EJ in 2024).At least 400 TW could in principle be extracted from near-surface winds, about 21 times world primary energy use. Wind farms generated 2,494 TWh in 2024, about 1.5% of world primary energy.
A flow: renewed continuouslyHow much there is
| Measure | Value | Compared with world energy use | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extractable kinetic power, near-surface turbines (geophysical limit) | at least 400 TW4 | about 21 times world primary energy use (about 12,600 EJ a year) | Climate-model upper limit, not a practical potential (Marvel, Kravitz and Caldeira). |
| Extractable kinetic power, high-altitude wind (geophysical limit) | more than 1,800 TW4 | about 96 times world primary energy use | Whole-atmosphere limit from the same study. |
| Onshore technical potential (2.5 MW turbines, non-forested, ice-free, non-urban land) | more than 40 times world electricity use (2009 consumption)5 | more than 5 times total world energy use in 2009 | Lu, McElroy and Kiviluoma, PNAS 2009. |
| Offshore technical potential | more than 420,000 TWh per year6 | about 2.6 times world primary energy use (1,512 EJ) | More than 18 times world electricity demand at the time (IEA, 2019). |
| Wind electricity generated in 2024 | 2,494 TWh7 | about 1.5% of world primary energy use (9.0 EJ) | Up 182 TWh (7.9%); 8.1% of world electricity. |
| World primary energy use (baseline) | 592 EJ in 20241 | 1 | Total energy supply, Energy Institute. Installed wind capacity at end-2024: 1,135 GW. |
Estimates of wind's potential differ by orders of magnitude because they ask different questions. The geophysical limit (400 TW near the surface) asks how much kinetic energy turbines could remove before they slow the winds themselves. Technical potentials ask how much land or sea is available with good winds, and put onshore wind at over 40 times world electricity use and offshore wind at over 420,000 TWh a year. Even the smaller numbers are far above human demand.
Global wind capacity reached 1,135 GW at the end of 2024 (Energy Institute), of which about 83 GW was offshore. Wind is now the largest non-hydro renewable source of electricity, but it still supplies only about 1.5% of world primary energy.
Sources
- Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy 2025 (74th edition) Energy Institute (with KPMG and Kearney), 2025
- Sufficient wind energy available to meet global demands without damaging climate (Marvel, Kravitz and Caldeira, Nature Climate Change) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 2012
- Global potential for wind-generated electricity (Lu, McElroy and Kiviluoma, PNAS 106) Harvard-China Project, 2009
- Offshore Wind Outlook 2019 International Energy Agency, 2019
- Global Electricity Review 2025: Global electricity source trends Ember, 2025