Offshore Wind Power--May Become More Reliable over the Years

Wind power is a great energy resource from both an environmental and economic standpoint. From an environmental standpoint, wind energy is renewable and clean and from an economic standpoint it is a good source in terms of expanding the overall energy sector of the U.S. economy from one based solely on fossil fuels to one that is broad based. However, one of the concerns with wind energy and perhaps why it is still a relatively small part of the energy portfolio in the U.S. is due to the relatively high cost compared to fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas as well as the environmental drawbacks in terms of negatively impacting bird migratory patterns. While both concerns are valid, the fact is that wind energy is becoming more reliable and the threat to migratory birds by wind power may not be as bad as it has been portrayed.

In particular, there is a wind farm project off of Cape May in New England and the Massachusetts Audubon Wildlife, a conservation group concerned with migratory birds, concluded "that the Cape Wind energy project (Cape Wind) will not pose an ecologically significant threat to the birds and associated marine habitat of the Nantucket Sound." As such, the concerns about offshore wind power and migratory birds may have been valid at one point, but the industry appears to be taking steps to tackle the issue.

Furthermore, the issue of cost relative to fossil fuels might be going down over the years, because of the sheer size of the projects and overall energy generation that will come from wind. The wind energy project in New England, for example, would be based on "sheer size and economies of scale of the 200-turbine project (which) would also help restrain, and make sure more predictable, energy costs for business and residential customers around here." As a result, the total cost of fossil fuel energy will go up since it is an exhaustible energy source while wind is not, and furthermore wind projects on a large scale may be less costly than fossil fuels as seen in the major offshore wind project up around Nantucket. Offshore wind power, therefore, is likely going to become more and more reliable over the years to come while fossil fuel sources like oil and natural gas will increase in price and are going to become less and less reliable. Offshore wind power, therefore, clearly has a lot of potential and it is a positive development that New England is looking into its potential.

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