Using GIS Maps to Assessing Wind Energy in Asian Countries: Finding the High Potential Countries and Examining Their Current Status and Outlook

Abstract

Providing sustainable energy to achieve favorable economic development has attracted the attention of many governments in recent years. Renewable energies, especially wind energy, have gained considerable media attention recently due to challenges with the use of fossil fuels, including difficulty in accessing and devastating environmental impacts. Extensive efforts have been made in Asia to benefit wind energy regionally, all of which have made Asia a leader in this field. There are a few simulation results in this area, given the importance and need to compile infrastructural strategies and programs that require a thorough understanding of the current state of wind energy usage and determining its potential in different regions. Therefore, this study reports for the first time on surveys conducted on average of 20-year wind speed data collected from 2892 stations in 49 Asian countries and wind speed and power density maps obtained using Geographic Information System (GIS) software and the Boolean method. Besides assessing the problems and issues of energy consumption in countries with high potential wind energy in Asia, in this paper, we try to explore the benefits and requirements of using wind energy in these countries as well as the possibility of maximally using wind energy. According to the results, east and north of Russia, as well as west and southwest Asia are optimal regions for establishing large-scale wind plants; there is no significant potential for the use of wind energy in other regions, especially in the majority of China, ASEAN countries, and their neighboring countries.