Potential Impacts from a Worst Case Discharge from an United States Offshore Wind Farm

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 (1) ◽  
pp. 869-877
Author(s):  
CDR Tim Gunter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
New England ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy ◽  
Worst Case

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this research is to explore potential environmental impacts of a worst case discharge (WCD) from an offshore commercial wind farm electric service platform (ESP) in the Northeast United States. Wind farms in the continental United States are a growing industry as an energy alternative to traditional oil, coal, and natural gas energy sources. While many offshore wind farms already exist in Europe and around the world, the Cape Wind Project in New England received the first federally approved lease for an offshore wind energy production facility in the United States. While offshore wind energy is a green source of energy, wind driven energy has its own set of environmental risks, including the risks of an oil spill. A systematic review of scholarly journals, federal government websites and other academic resources was conducted to identify previous spills in the Northeast with the closest match in volume and location to the Cape Wind Project. The oil spills from the barge North Cape in 1996 near Point Judith, Rhode Island and from the barge Florida in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, in 1996, had the most similarities to a potential WCD spill from the Cape Wind Project. Both of these spills adversely impacted the environment, and provide useful information that can be used for the planning efforts surrounding a WCD event from the Cape Wind Project.

A National Offshore Wind Strategy. Creating an Offshore Wind Energy Industry in the United States

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Beaudry-Losique ◽  
Ted Boling ◽  
Jocelyn Brown-Saracino ◽  
Patrick Gilman ◽  
Michael Hahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Energy Industry ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy

Offshore Wind Energy and the Mid-Atlantic Cold Pool: A Review of Potential Interactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 72-87
Author(s):  
Travis Miles ◽  
Sarah Murphy ◽  
Josh Kohut ◽  
Sarah Borsetti ◽  
Daphne Munroe
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Cold Pool ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
Seasonal Thermocline

Abstract The U.S. East Coast has 1.7 million acres of federal bottom under lease for the development of wind energy installations, with plans for more than 1,500 foundations to be placed. The scale of these wind farms has the potential to alter the unique and delicate oceanographic conditions along the expansive Atlantic continental shelf, a region characterized by a strong seasonal thermocline that overlies cold bottom water, known as the “Cold Pool.” Strong seasonal stratification traps cold (typically less than 10°C) water above the ocean bottom sustaining a boreal fauna that represents vast fisheries, including the most lucrative shellfish fisheries in the United States. This paper reviews the existing literature and research pertaining to the ways in which offshore wind farms may alter processes that establish, maintain, and degrade stratification associated with the Cold Pool through vertical mixing in this seasonally dynamic system. Changes in stratification could have important consequences in Cold Pool setup and degradation, processes fundamental to high fishery productivity of the region. The potential for these multiple wind energy arrays to alter oceanographic processes and the biological systems that rely on them is possible; however, a great deal of uncertainty remains about the nature and scale of these interactions. Research should be prioritized that identifies stratification thresholds of influence, below which turbines and wind farm arrays may alter oceanographic processes. These should be examined within context of spatial and seasonal dynamics of the Cold Pool and offshore wind lease areas to identify potential areas of further study.

scholarly journals Meteorology for Coastal/Offshore Wind Energy in the United States: Recommendations and Research Needs for the Next 10 Years

2014 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina L. Archer ◽  
Brian A. Colle ◽  
Luca Delle Monache ◽  
Michael J. Dvorak ◽  
Julie Lundquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy

scholarly journals Oceanic Records of North American Bats and Implications for Offshore Wind Energy Development in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Solick ◽  
Christian Newman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
North American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Terrestrial Environment

Offshore wind energy is a growing industry in the United States, and renewable energy from offshore wind is estimated to double the country’s total electricity generation. There is growing concern that land-based wind development in North America is negatively impacting bat populations, primarily long-distance migrating bats, but the impacts to bats from offshore wind energy is unknown. Bats are associated with the terrestrial environment, but have been observed over the ocean. In this review, we synthesize historic and contemporary accounts of bats observed and acoustically recorded offshore over North American waters to ascertain the spatial and temporal distribution of bats flying offshore. We integrate these records with studies of offshore bats in Europe and of bat behavior at land-based wind energy studies to examine how offshore wind development could impact North American bat populations. We find that most offshore bat records are of long-distance migrating bats and records occur during autumn migration, the period of highest fatality rates for long-distance migrating bats at land-based wind facilities in North America. We summarize evidence that bats may be attracted to offshore turbines for roosting and foraging opportunities, potentially increasing their risk of collision, but that higher wind speeds offshore can potentially reduce the amount of time that bats are exposed to risk. We identify knowledge gaps and hypothesize that a combination of mitigation strategies may be the most effective approach for minimizing impacts to bats and maximizing offshore energy production.

scholarly journals 2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walt Musial ◽  
Donna Heimiller ◽  
Philipp Beiter ◽  
George Scott ◽  
Caroline Draxl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Energy
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