Shippers: Offshore Wind Farms May Cause Hazards, Increase Emissions

The British government has set a target of having wind generate at least one-third of all its electricity within 12 years. It also wants 33 gigawatts of electricity-generation capacity to be built in the seas around the country by 2020. But the Department for Transport has told the wind industry that shipping operators are concerned about plans to build offshore wind farms to meet the government’s targets, Telegraph reports.

The London Array project plans to erect a constellation of more than 340 wind turbines in the outer Thames Estuary, roughly seven miles off the Kent Coast. It is expected to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm when completed, Array will generate more electricity than the largest offshore farm operational today — Denmark’s Middelgrunden offshore wind farm.

Shipping Dangers from Offshore Wind Farms

Shipping operators fear the wind turbines, some times more than 600 feet tall, will be a navigation hazard in areas that are already busy. In addition, they say diverting ships around the wind farms may lead to an increase in CO2 emissions and cancel out much of the wind farm’s CO2 savings.

Research also suggests that such large structures may interfere with ships’ radar and make it hard to spot other ships.

"This is the breakout growth sector of the next generation," said the author of Next 10's report, "Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Job Creation in California".

David Roland-Holst, a professor of agriculture and resource economics at UC Berkeley. "We cannot afford to miss this market opportunity."

California's per-capita electricity use is about 40% less than the national average, Roland-Holst said, largely because of government-mandated energy efficiency standards for utilities, buildings and appliances put into effect over the last four decades.

Roland-Holst found that the lower use has enabled Californians to save $56 billion on energy since 1972. That money was spent in the local economy, he said, instead of on imported oil, out-of-state electricity or building new power plants. The result: 1.5 million additional California jobs with a total payroll exceeding $45 billion.

Programs like AB 32 will have a multiplier effect

Next 10's report calculates that energy innovation required by AB 32 will create 403,000 green-collar jobs over the next 12 years as companies spend big on renewables and energy efficiency. Roland-Holst said that would increase household income in California by as much as $48 billion by 2020 and boost the state domestic product by $76 billion.

California's Environmental Innovation Advantage

Some of California's leading companies agree with Roland-Holst's assessment that environmental innovation could become a pillar of the California economy.

Read more about the report: Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Job Creation in California (by David Roland-Holst, UC Berkeley, Oct. 2008)