Wind Energy and Changing Ocean Currents

Offshore Wind Power Could Alter Ocean Currents

For class this week I decided to research more on the effects of wind energy on marine life. While researching I found this article and it brought up an effect of wind energy that I had never thought of: that the ocean currents can also be affected by offshore wind turbines. The article states that the turbines have an effect on the air currents which in turn can have an affect on the ocean currents. The changing ocean currents then in turn churn up more nutrients from the bottom of the ocean. This is a good thing because it provides more food for marine life, but in turn it can also create an excess of nutrients which can lead to algae blooms and eutrification which is not a positive thing. I think only time will tell whether there will be a positive or negative outcome from this. Hopefully, the amount of nutrients stirred up will be enough to feed marine populations but not enough to create an excess.

Bluewater

The Bluewater offshore wind energy project was a huge win for the alternative energy movement. It's going to be very interesting to see how things actually turn out for the project over the coming years. I think wind energy is a great up and coming thing. Even though it is variable and therefore the typical power plants still need to be used, they are able to be used less frequently. This will allow for less fuels to used which is becoming a growing concern. Using wind energy can allow more time for better and more reliable alternative energy sources to be found and developed. It should also prove to be a much more environmentally friendly energy source because it will not create the amount of pollution that other power plants create. As it talks about in the article I also hope that by more and more states creating their own wind power plants that it will force the federal government to make some legistration regarding them.