US Offshore Wind Energy

D. Allen Hughes, P.E.

Course Outline

1. Introduction
2. Wind Turbine Technology
3. Offshore Wind Turbine Development for Deep Water
4. Advancing Technologies
5. Europe and Asia
6. United States
7. Government Incentives
8. Siting and Permitting
9. Atlantic Coast
10. Great Lakes
11. Gulf of Mexico
12. Pacific Coast
13. Public Concerns and Benefits
14. Real Estate Values
15. Tourism
16. Radar and Military Activities
17. Birds and Bats
18. Marine Life and Fishing
19. Wind Variability
20. Extreme Weather
21. Costs
22. Local Economy and Jobs
23. Climate Change

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will have learned or been exposed to the following:

• Awareness of Existing European and Asian Offshore Wind Farms;
• Awareness of the Basic Principles of Offshore Wind Energy;
• Awareness of the Areas of the Geographic Areas of the United States that are Candidates for Offshore Wind Farm Locations;
• Awareness of Public Concerns About Offshore Wind Farms Relating to Tourism, Property Values and Local Economies and Jobs;
• Awareness of the Affects of Offshore Wind Farms on Navigation and Military Activities; and
• Awareness of the Affects of Offshore Wind Farms Commercial Fishing and, Birds and Bats.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for use by engineers and architects.

Benefit to Attendees

The student will gain a basic understanding from this course of potential for offshore wind energy in U.S. waters and the potential costs and benefits of offshore wind farms.

Course Introduction

Offshore wind turbines harness the energy of ocean winds and turn it into electricity. Several European and two Asian countries have offshore wind farms, which supply local, clean, renewable energy. Although land-based wind turbines are prevalent in the United States, there are no offshore wind farms in U.S. waters. However, projects are under development in the wind-rich areas of the East Coast, Great Lakes, and Pacific Coast. Offshore wind energy can help meet multiple state and national goals, including reducing energy imports, reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions which cause climate change (by displacing fossil-fueled power generation), meeting renewable electricity standards, and creating jobs and local business opportunities.

Course Content

The content of this course is a document written by Mary Rock and Laura Parsons at The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). 

US Offshore Wind Energy

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

This course demonstrates that offshore wind energy has been successfully implemented in other parts of the world and that the potential for wind farms in U.S. waters is favorable.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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