On November 24th, Governor O’Malley of Maryland, one of the members of The Interior Department, and the President of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, Jim Lanard, announced that the Obama Administration has decided to start a project for renewable wind power off the shore of the eastern United States. This announcement is so important because our nation’s current energy use habits are harming the environment and running out. Wind power development is significant to our future as a country and a global society because we will need sources of renewable and inexhaustible energy. The fact that the federal government is pushing this project is a great sign to the general public to try and rally support for the development of renewable energy sources instead of continually depleting nonrenewable sources just because of lower price.
During the next 60 days, the plan sets out to have the administration collaborate with all of the eastern states to identify wind energy areas, which will be the most promising locations for the new clean energy sources. After the wind energy areas are chosen, within the next six months The Department of Interior with try and gather ocean based renewable energy development information from related agencies, including NOAA, DOD, EPA, and the Coastguard, to confirm that these specified areas would work well with the wind power turbines.
The next step in the process would be to review the lease sales and give investors all available information so that the initiative will be able to move forward. After the review of the findings by all involved, full environmental impact statement is required to officially approve the project. Once approved, attention will shift towards any transmission applications, which might help in making smart business decisions for companies looking to advance offshore wind power in America.
Furthermore, as a nation, we are heavily dependent upon oil as a main source of energy. However, some modern civilizations seem to be oblivious that we are running out of oil reserves
faster than anticipated in previous studies. Recent research shows that global production is likely to peak in 10 years, which is about a decade before some governments estimated. After a study of more than 800 oil fields all over the globe, it was found that even most of the biggest fields have already peaked, which has led to an increased decline in oil production that continues to drop at almost twice the rate that was calculated two years ago. Even if somehow the rapidly growing world’s population maintained a stead use of oil, it has been determined that between now and 2030, our world will still need the equivalent of four Saudi Arabias to keep up with current production levels.
As a result of the United State’s continued use of exhaustible energy resources, I believe that wind energy is a great step in the right direction. I think that it needs to become more accessible and more understood by the general public before it will be able to become a mainstream energy source, but this project will hopefully be the first of many. In the long run, wind power could be the most cost effective power source we have.
Very good points, Monica. I definitely agree that we should work to improve our renewable energy. I also think that we cannot get content with the renewable energy technology that we have now, and should work even harder to find new ideas to create energy.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very promising and smart announcement from the government. I am glad to see offshore wind developments are beginning to pick up in their popularity. It is about time these developments are seen in a positive view. Not many people are in favor of having a wind farm in their backyard. I think this is a very good place to put them without causing a significant impact on humans. Hopefully the process to install the turbines will not take too long as we desperately need to lessen our dependence on oil quickly.
ReplyDeleteI strongly support renewable energy; especially wind energy. Ocean wind farms provide clean energy without disrupting suburban life. I think that this plan is a good step forward for the US. Today's energy crisis has caused energy companies to cut corners to try and produce as much energy as possible, even if that means producing "dirty" energy. I think the USA should try to focus more on renewable sources of energy like ocean wind farms, and less on coal. However, my only concern is transferring the energy to mainland as well energy storage. I hope that ocean wind farms become more popular and the government will start more projects like this one.
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