Offshore Windfarms: Good or Bad?

I want to see them everywhere. I live very close to a giant one right now and its awesome.

 

well, if nothing else, it sure beats coal. we also need to focus far more heavily on the DEMAND side. there's great potential for new development on that end and lots of people working to make it happen.

Demand Response Research Center at LBNL is doing some amazing stuff. Here's a link to their site if you're interested. You can download most of their published stuff for free at the site.
http://drrc.lbl.gov/publications/op...ynamic-pricing-technologies-and-demonstration

 

I am a proponent... I have never done any extensive research, but from what I can tell there is mostly positives and minimal negatives. I believe the hardest part about any of this new clean energy technology is making the technology cost effective. My guess it that they are able to make these offshore wind farms cost effective since it seems to becoming an increasing popular idea.

 

This article is a couple of years old, but it helps to explain why Denmark is way ahead of the US (and the rest of the world) in developing the technology necessary to harness the power of the wind:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1881646-1,00.html

 

yeah, im not opposed to them at this point, but again, my opinion lacks extensive research. I know that they are planning them on the west coast as well, and with tons of wind activity sending us all that surf, I have to wonder why they wouldnt try and harness all that raw power...

And as far as it affecting the waves or surfing in VB, I was under the assumption that these turbines are installed WAYYYYY offshore. Not even within eye sight, so waves would probably difract around any installed piping, and if you think about it, if it is installed directly east of North End, it would take a perfectly direct, dead on, and I mean perfectly east swell to come right at it. Every other swell angle would clear it the way it normally would.

Maybe some one could shed light on where they install these things, but I thought it was 20+ miles out to sea. Anyone?

 

I think it's a great idea and we should really expand upon it. I mean look, we have all this energy floating around every day all over the place, wind. Instead of using free wind, we pump oil and mine coal out of the ground. It doesn't really make sense (other than for cars ect.) to use coal or oil for an energy source when we could just build a few of these. Yes, they may be expensive to initially build, but over the years they would pay themselves off. If each city had a wind farm, I am sure they would cut electric costs by A LOT. I am not sure how effective they would be off shore, with big storm swells/hurricanes, but I believe onshore they may be a bit safer.

 

One proposal I read indicated that you would see the turbines... they'd be about as big as your thumb at arm's length.

So it comes down to this... what do you want to look at, wind turbines or oil rigs? Because that will be our legacy.

 

The eye sore issue, in my opinion, is ridiculous... Every road in America has a telephone pole with electric wires going across - no one is complaining about that at this point... Anyway, I think in most cases, the farms are far enough off the coast and not within sight.

 

personally, i like seeing wind farms. when i see those in atlantic city, they make me happy, not angry. it shows we're making progression toward green energy and a better future.

 

Like...
In Nags Head, at the Jennetts Pier, they have some wind turbines on the pier. Apparently the wind turbines fuel the entire pier's electricity, which includes a restaurant on the pier. Not sure if this is true or not, but it is definitely cool... The wind turbines on the pier weren't an eye sore at all, in fact they looked cool and were a perfect way to monitor the change wind direction and speed.

 

-To generate the same amount of electricity as a single 1-MW turbine for 20 years would require 23 million tons of coal or 92,000 barrels of oil.

-A single 1-MW turbine displaces 1,800 tons of carbon dioxide, the primary global warming pollutant, each year

-A 1-MW turbine generates enough electricity for 250 to 300 homes

http://www.continentalwindpower.com/windenergybasics.php

Just a few quick facts. I actually gave a presentation on Wind Farms for the Outer Banks and Northeastern NC for my public speaking class last week. The start-up costs for these things are pretty high and not very economical, but the long term effects greatly outweigh the high prices for construction.

 

This is true...and no they are def not an eye sore! Like someone posted earlier, it is great for surfers because you can tell the wind speed (estimate) and direction. I personally think wind harnessing should be exploited in all parts of the nation that contain significant amounts of steady winds.

 

I'm all for wind farms even with the initial costs. I've been seeing them pop up inland all over and think its awesome, any way we can start to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels is a step in the right direction.

 

Good info, don't forget that they make these things up to 5 megawatts now too, with plans to go to 7.5 mw soon... if they haven't already.

 

I wrote a paper on green energy sources last year also. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. And anyone who has been to Spain or Portugal will tell you that the wind turbines are every where. To see a large number of them all spinning at once is really quite impressive.

What does AC have, 5? Portions of Andalucia I traveled through had like 30-40 visible within eyesight. Canaries, too.

 

I'm all for alternative sources of energy, including wind turbines, but offshore? It will f*ck up the swell, guaranteed! Just wait till they're up, then it'll be too late! Put them onshore - there's still wind on the barrier islands and the mainland! Leave the offshore sites alone!

 

bad. too much $$$$ to build and up keep. No real difference between cost and energy made

 

Does anybody know of any windfarms that power a sizable area independently? I'm all about greener, but I haven't read (or heard) of any hard data (from an unbiased study) suggesting they have actually replaced or reduced the environmental impact of existing oil, gas or coal plants.

After seeing the statistics for recycling (vs the claims), I have to admit that I'm skeptical of any government-run "green" programs until I see the facts....not the proposals.