Harnessing wind from sea to shining sea: The future of U.S. offshore wind power (original) (raw)

This paper will present the current political and technical landscape of successfully implemented offshore wind technologies worldwide and provide suggestions for U.S. growth. The first section will argue that wind projects are essential to reach our goals of mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and implementing renewable energy as an attractive alternative. As the second section will explain, offshore wind plays an important role in this goal: aside from reduced climate change impact and resource abundance, it is also peak-coincident and close to load centers. After illustrating the benefits of offshore wind projects, the third section will delineate some technical and political obstacles to implementation. Finally, the concluding section will make suggestions for advancing offshore wind by providing potential steps to overcoming obstacles.