Offshore wind is the next major source of American energy. Realizing offshore wind’s potential will generate clean electricity near many of the country’s largest population centers, revitalize coastal and port communities, and create thousands of jobs and a new U.S. supply chain. In fact, offshore wind could create 46,000 jobs over the next few years according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and it represents a $70 billion supply chain opportunity. And these jobs aren’t just on the East Coast—offshore wind offers legacy energy firms the chance to diversify. For example, Falcon Global and Gulf Island Fabrication, two Louisiana-based firms with expertise building offshore oil rigs, helped construct the country’s first offshore project, the Block Island Wind Farm. That means offshore wind can help provide much-needed opportunities to oil and gas workers in the Gulf Coast, which has lost over 21,000 oil and gas jobs in recent years. However, policies still need to be enacted in order to realize these opportunities and ensure the continued growth of the emerging industry.
States along the East Coast have made substantial offshore wind commitments, but tax parity and regulatory certainty are necessary to bring these pledges to fruition. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) supports energy tax policy that establishes parity between technologies to deliver clean energy at the lowest cost to consumers, and we see several legislative options to get there. Short of a broader agreement on energy tax policy, consumers would benefit from a suite of policies like the offshore investment tax credit.
To ensure the states’ demand for clean energy is met, the federal government should continue processing offshore wind project plans in an expeditious manner consistent with the Administration’s directives and conduct new lease auctions. All capital-intensive energy industries need regulatory stability. A timely, transparent and predictable regulatory environment is critical to providing business certainty and securing tens of billions of dollars of additional investment in the United States. AWEA and offshore wind developers are working together with other ocean users to find solutions that help everyone prosper.
Having been involved in the offshore wind project off Block Island, which is the first working offshore wind project in the United States, I thinkl the two things that made… Read more »
Thank you for your comment. There is indeed an opportunity for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory approvals for offshore wind projects. You mention the involvement of local communities,… Read more »
See comment below from Frank T Manheim (Affiliate Professor, George Mason University) in reference to this one: “Taubman’s words should be heeded.”
What I don’t see stated in any of these articles is “how much CO2 is being created in the mining of materials – the processing of these materials into components-… Read more »
Carbon neutral …you have got to be kidding to put coal and natural gas forward as the right resources for our electricity! The world is certainly not going to end… Read more »
Hi Jane I really do not want to be left freezing in the dark. I want to be ensured that when I flick the switch the lights will come on… Read more »
Freezing in the dark? Good gravy! YIKES! What part of the cumulative effects of GHGs in the atmosphere aren’t you willing to look at as the science has? The water… Read more »
The world will not end in 10 or 12 years, but the climate will be quite a different than it was when I was growing up. The use of fossil… Read more »
Here’s a recent lifecycle assessment of onshore and offshore wind turbines, including manufacturing and disposal. It comes up with a result (see table 7) of about 7 grams of CO2… Read more »
Thank you for your comment, Professor Kirk-Davidoff. We agree. In fact, the University of Texas at Austin’s Energy Institute has compared the levelized CO2 emissions of all types of power… Read more »
The big question is what does it cost to design off-shore wind farms and the associated infrastructure for Category V hurricanes without serious damage? Today the wind farm owner buys… Read more »
As someone in VA I keep an eye out for info on the hurricane issue. Evidently south of VA is considered out of bounds now because of the hurricane issue.… Read more »
The use of wind farms to slow high-energy hurricanes does not work. The problem is the scale of a big hurricane. High winds force feathering the blades to avoid total… Read more »
Jacobson’s fantasy about wind farms slowing hurricane winds is a bad joke, typical of his unrealistic claims. He’s clearly never experienced a strong hurricane. As NOAA explained when Trump naively… Read more »
MRs Forsberg and Blees … I grew up going to the Jersey shore and know the power of hurricanes, but Jacobson is not the only one who believe that, positioned… Read more »
Jacobson may not be the only one to say that offshore wind turbines could slow hurricane winds, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. I can show you almost any far-fetched… Read more »
Hurricanes are heat engines feeding on warm water; thus, they decrease in power rapidly once they go ashore. How fast a hurricane slows down on land is irrelevant in terms… Read more »
To add to this thread about offshore wind turbines and Category 5 storms – OurEnergyPolicy held a panel discussion in New York City on offshore wind last month (Dec. 2,… Read more »
Some additional points regarding hurricanes. Engineers test wind farms thoroughly for safety and to ensure they are resilient enough to operate for decades in harsh environmental conditions. Land-based wind farms… Read more »
I’ve thought about the potential damage to offshore wind from more extreme hurricanes, and while I don’t have any direct knowledge or expertise, the obvious solution would be to design… Read more »
Robert Perry – Robert Hobson replied to your question about floating wind turbines in this comment.
It is argued that if a large, albeit infrequent, hurricane struck an off shore wind farm causing damage, this financial loss would be recovered from insurance. All well and good,… Read more »
Mr. Blees … Here are just a few comments on nuclear expense … Peter Bradford, a former member of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission: . . . New nuclear is… Read more »
Jane, I participated in the National Academy of Sciences review of spent fuel pool zirconium fires if the pool were somehow drained of water. What was proposed by Dr. Robert… Read more »
Hershel, as you know I think, and many others may now agree, that replacing nuclear electricity with gas generated electricity is not the prudent thing to do for Climate. My… Read more »
As long as retiring nuclear power plants are replaced by fossil fuels, usually gas, the net benefit of off-shore wind will be negative for years to come. This is not… Read more »
I like nuclear produced energy. It can operate for 50 to 100 years. Sure there are costs and time, but their technologies have also very much improved. I am still… Read more »
Ms. Morton, Thank you for giving OurEnergyPolicy participants the opportunity to provide input on the effective introduction of offshore wind as a potentially important future source of clean energy in… Read more »
Thanks for the comment. The processes to procure offshore wind in the Northeast varies by state. In some cases, the state itself is issuing the solicitations and making the procurement… Read more »
Offshore wind is an historic opportunity. First, the wind blows for a longer duration in most cases off shore than on land. Second, most of the world’s population lives near… Read more »
On target! However, in addition see my post and appended blog
https://blog.mpsanet.org/category/authors/frank-t-manheim/
OurEnergyPolicy held a live panel discussion on offshore wind in New York City in December 2019. The panelists’ remarks on regulatory and policy challenges are relevant to this discussion. See… Read more »
Hello ALL Just want to set a few facts straight regarding offshore wind. Also I would appreciate if people would check the facts before making incorrect statements. someone stated the… Read more »
Also of interest to the hurricane discussion is this post by the U.S. Department of Energy regarding wind turbines in extreme weather. https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-extreme-weather-solutions-hurricane-resiliency. Note that in October 2019, the NYESERDA… Read more »
Wind generally is needed not just on shore and not just offshore. The choice of location should be optimized for the wind and the costs of generation and if that… Read more »
Vineyard Power Cooperative, based on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and the local community partner of Vineyard Wind has developed a new state policy, Community Empowerment, that would… Read more »
I commented on this a while ago and won’t repeat my remarks except to leave an earlier blog on the paramount obstacle facing offshore wind energy development. Optimistic projections have… Read more »