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Wind Power Coming to Northeast?
Amid a national debate over offshore oil drilling, the federal government is preparing to unleash development of another offshore energy source: wind.The Interior Department, the agency that handles oil-and-gas leases in U.S. waters, is preparing to lease swaths of the outer continental shelf to companies that want to erect massive wind turbines. With the public-comment period for the proposal scheduled to end Monday, competition is heating up to develop wind projects on the shelf, the same underwater formation largely covered by an oil-drilling ban that has become a contentious issue in the presidential race. QUESTION OF THE DAY If you had to choose one, which method of offshore energy production would you support?The federal program signals the start of a broad push to develop offshore wind energy in the U.S. The country often is dubbed by renewable-energy experts as "the Saudi Arabia of wind" because of its vast, windy expanses, particularly in the Western plains. Now, rising interest in renewable energy is spurring exploration of the ocean, where the winds typically are heavier but the technological hurdles to tapping it are higher. That shift mirrors the oil industry's move to offshore wells decades ago. The offshore-wind race is centered on the Northeast. In June, an electricity producer and a wind-energy developer in Delaware signed a contract for a project of some 67 turbines to be built about 11.5 miles off the state's coast. Over the next two months, Rhode Island and New Jersey are expected to choose wind-energy developers to work with as the states try to put together offshore projects. And New York City officials are talking with wind-power developers about erecting turbines on a massive tract of the Atlantic Ocean about 25 miles from Manhattan. Offshore wind power seems likely to be the largest source of renewable energy for the city, says James Gallagher, senior vice president for energy policy for the New York Economic Development Corp. The idea is part of a broader plan by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to curb the growth in the city's demand for fossil-fueled energy. Posted by: Bobby 2008-09-05 |
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