The following is a reprint of an op-ed piece by Mark Rogers, Communications Director of Cape Wind, the private-sector organization presently proposing the first off-shore wind-farm in the United States on Horseshoe Shoal in the Nantucket Sound south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
The United States can increase its use of wind power over the next two
decades to supply twenty percent of the nation’s electricity without
any technological breakthroughs, according to a first-of-its-kind
report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last month.
The report entitled, "20% Wind Energy by 2030" [PDF, link not provided in the original -ed.], forecasts that target can be met with 300 gigawatts of installed wind power in the United States assuming that electric demand also increases by 39 percent.
According to the report, the DOE expects coastal states to harness 50,000 megawatts of offshore wind in shallow water depths of less than 100 feet. The report notes for some coastal states (like Massachusetts) shallow water offshore wind can provide 100 percent of the electricity supply.
The DOE further states that increasing the use of wind power to supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity would reduce carbon dioxide emissions (that contribute to climate change) from the electricity generation sector by 25 percent while creating up to a half million new American jobs.
This increased use of wind power would allow the U.S. to reduce its use of natural gas by 50 percent and its use of coal by 18 percent to generate electricity, according to the DOE, and this would improve energy independence and national security. The report notes that without this increased use of wind power the U.S. would substantially increase its use of natural gas for electricity generation, with heavy reliance upon imported liquid natural gas (the greatest suppliers of which will be Iran, Qatar and Russia).
Finally, the DOE notes that increased use of wind power will benefit Americans by making the price of the energy more stable and less vulnerable to the price volatility seen from fossil fuels. While the cost of building all new forms of electrical generation including wind power has increased considerably, at least the fuel cost of wind will always be stable, at zero.
Locally, some have argued that we should put aside shallow water offshore wind projects and instead wait for deepwater projects. The U.S. Department of Energy takes a very different view in its new report:
“Shallow water wind turbine projects have been proposed and could be followed by transitional and finally deepwater turbines. These paths should not be considered as mutually exclusive choices. Because there is a high degree of interdependence among them, they should be considered a sequence of development that builds from a shallow water foundation of experience and knowledge to the complexities of deeper water.”
We at Cape Wind were pleased recently to see that over 41,000 (of the 42,000) written comments received by the Minerals Management Service on their Environmental Impact Statement were in support of our project moving forward. While we recognize that in this day in age that any energy infrastructure project will face opposition, we note that two recent independent polls found statewide support for Cape Wind at 86 percent and that support on the Cape and Islands is growing.
We hope to complete permitting by the end of this year, and we look forward to one day providing 75 percent of the electricity needs of the Cape and Islands from the clean and inexhaustible winds on Horseshoe Shoal.
As America’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind would help make Massachusetts a global leader in offshore renewable energy while also helping the United States move toward the goal of supplying 20 percent of its electricity from the power of wind.
Cape Wind Associates, LLC
75 Arlington Street; Suite 704
Boston, MA 02116