What do you think? Offshore Wind Could Meet 100% of US Demand for energy.

[Bananas]

http://digg.com/d1oAUF

Atlantic wind farms alone could meet 25% of US electricity needs

According to a new report released by the Interior Department, shallow-water offshore wind farms could supply as much as 20% of the electricity in most coastal states. The report, released last week by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, said that the greatest offshore wind energy potential in the U.S. lies off the Atlantic Coast which holds 1,000 gigawatts of electricity, or one quarter of national demand.

“More than three-fourths of the nation’s electricity demand comes from coastal states and the wind potential off the coasts of the lower 48 states actually exceeds our entire U.S. electricity demand,” Salazar told a summit meeting of 25X’25 America’s Energy Future, a group working to lower America’s carbon emissions.

From Maine to Florida, state and local officials have been drafting plans and regulatory structures for offshore wind farm siting and permitting.

States have regulatory jurisdiction within three miles of their coast, beyond that boundary, the federal government has jurisdiction. And the federal waters between North Carolina and Delaware hold 71 percent of the nation’s shallow-water wind resources, the Interior report says.

In North Carolina, where the shallow waters and high winds in and around the Outer Banks are legendary, state legislators and some coastal counties are already preparing standards for where to allow wind farms. The state’s sounds, inside the Outer Banks, could be likely targets.

“We don’t have a proposal yet, but in all the presentations I’ve seen, the (potential) facilities seem to be in shallow water,” Mike Lopazanski of the N.C. Division of Coastal Management told the Charlotte Observer.

The report also notes large potential in the Pacific—approximately 900 gigawatts along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington—but that deeper waters off the Pacific coast make developing that wind energy resource far more difficult with current available technologies.

There are more than 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind projects proposed in the United States, yet the country is still waiting for its first offshore turbine. Though it has yet to receive final approval from all relevant regulatory bodies, the Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts is the closest to fruition.

[jeromechickenbone]

I know Boone Pickens (aka corporate raider / energy billionaire)  has bought up 1000's of acres in Western Oklahoma / Texas for wind farming.  Wind is free, clean, and you never run out of it.  You don't have to go to war to control it and destroy the earth. 

I love the idea.  I hope it has legs.

[RETURN OF THE OVERFIEND!]

Heard about that bloke.



I too love the idea.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

I know Boone Pickens (aka corporate raider / energy billionaire)  has bought up 1000's of acres in Western Oklahoma / Texas for wind farming.  Wind is free, clean, and you never run out of it.  You don't have to go to war to control it and destroy the earth. 

I love the idea.  I hope it has legs.

Oil companies won't let this happen in the near future. It's too bad, because it can solve a lot of problems.

[jeromechickenbone]

I know Boone Pickens (aka corporate raider / energy billionaire)  has bought up 1000's of acres in Western Oklahoma / Texas for wind farming.  Wind is free, clean, and you never run out of it.  You don't have to go to war to control it and destroy the earth. 

I love the idea.  I hope it has legs.

Oil companies won't let this happen in the near future. It's too bad, because it can solve a lot of problems.

Boone Pickens IS oil.  A lot of those cats are hustlers and are def venturing into alternative energy sources.  Ethanol didn't pan out, but lots of oil cats were in on that.  If there's money to be made, best bet people will flock to it.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

I know Boone Pickens (aka corporate raider / energy billionaire)  has bought up 1000's of acres in Western Oklahoma / Texas for wind farming.  Wind is free, clean, and you never run out of it.  You don't have to go to war to control it and destroy the earth. 

I love the idea.  I hope it has legs.

Oil companies won't let this happen in the near future. It's too bad, because it can solve a lot of problems.

Boone Pickens IS oil.  A lot of those cats are hustlers and are def venturing into alternative energy sources.  Ethanol didn't pan out, but lots of oil cats were in on that.  If there's money to be made, best bet people will flock to it.

Oh. Then kudos to him.