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December 3, 2008 2:55:39 AM CST

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Wind Power Finds Its Sea Legs

Posted May 10, 08 9:39 AM CDT in Science & Health,  Technology 

(Newser) – An answer to the world's energy crisis might be a breeze, the Economist reports—specifically, a breeze offshore. With wind blowing twice as fast offshore than on, engineers have been racing to develop technology to "float" wind turbines far out in the ocean—where they won't ruin coveted views from shore. They cost 50% more to build, but they generate five times as much power as landed cousins.

Though more than 300 offshore turbines—anchored in concrete on a relatively shallow seabed—dot British and Danish coastal waters, American companies have yet to produce a single one, due mainly to a hurricane of objections over visual blight. But "floaters" are already used to support many oil rigs, so marine engineers predict a boom in far-offshore wind farms in the next 5 years.

Sources Economist, MIT News

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A speed boat passes by offshore windmills in the North Sea offshore from the village of Blavandshuk near Esbjerg, Denmark, in this file photo taken on Wednesday, Oct.30, 2002.   (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper)
A vessel sails towards a wind farm off the coast of Whitstable on the north Kent coast in southeastern England in this file photo taken Tuesday July 11, 2006.   (AP Photo/David Bebber, Pool)
A large offshore wind farm.   (Getty Images)
In this undated photo provided by Finavera Renewables, a wave energy converter called an AquaBuOY is shown.   (AP Photo/Finavera Renewables, HO)
A picture of an offshore wind farm 4 to 5 miles off the North Wales coast between Prestatyn and Rhyl is shown here in 2004. (LON62717)   (Magnum Photos)
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