West Coast Publishing Ocean 2014 affirmative page

A2: Case Turns

A2: General Case Turns

Mitigation strategies reduce all risks

Walter Musial, Principal Engineer, National Wind Technology Center at NREL and Bonnie Ram, Ram Power, L.L.C., September 2010, “Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States, Assessment of Opportunities and Barriers, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NERL), http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/40745.pdf, Accessed 5/10/2014

Risks associated with offshore wind energy are not as serious or potentially catastrophic compared with other energy supply technologies. Also wind turbines can be deployed relatively quickly to reduce greenhouse gases, reduce other air emissions and help conserve water resources. Potential risks in deploying offshore wind projects can typically be reduced through development and use of best management practices, mitigation strategies, and adaptive management principles. Although risks are site-specific, research at European installed projects and U.S. baseline studies are building the knowledge base and helping to inform decision makers and the public.

Any negative effects are predictable and minimal

Anne-Charlotte Vaissière, IFREMER, UMR AMURE, Marine Economics Unit, ZI Pointe du Diable, France, et al, September 2014, “Biodiversity offsets for offshore wind farm projects: The current situation in Europe,” Marine Policy, vol. 48, pp. 172–183.

Residual impacts are not significant because measures for avoiding or reducing environmental offshore impacts have been efficient. In this case ecological offset is unnecessary. This is the main reason put forward in the EIA reports. One research paper claims that offshore wind farm development is not benign for the marine environment but that the impacts are minor and can be mitigated through good siting practices. Another paper notes this consensus in the EIA reports, suggesting that potential negative effects should be predictable and even that many are likely to be minimal or not occur at all (e.g. [32]).

A2: Case Outweighs

Offshore wind costs half as much as fossil fuels, while mitigating hurricanes, air pollution, and global warming

Mark Z. Jacobson, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Cristina L. Archer, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, University of Delaware, and Willett Kempton, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Delaware, March 2014, “Taming hurricanes with arrays of offshore wind turbines,” Nature Climate Change, vol. 4, pp. 195-200, http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n3/full/nclimate2120.html, Accessed 5/11/2014

Including hurricane damage avoidance, reduced pollution, health, and climate costs, but not including tax credits or subsidies, gives the net cost of offshore wind as ~4-8.5¢kWh, which compares with ~10¢kWh for new fossil fuel generation. The health and climate benefits significantly reduce wind's net cost, and hurricane protection adds a smaller benefit (~10% for New Orleans), but at no additional cost. In sum, large arrays of offshore wind turbines seem to diminish hurricane risk cost-effectively while reducing air pollution and global warming and providing energy supply at a lower net cost than conventional fuels.

Offshore wind is cost-effective, reduces fossil fuel pollution costs, and save on hurricane damages

James Ayre, Staff Writer for Clean Technica, February 28, 2014, “Offshore wind farms hold potential to weaken hurricanes, research finds,” The Raw Story, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/28/offshore-wind-farms-hold-potential-to-weaken-hurricanes-research-finds/, Accessed 5/14/2014

Jacobson acknowledges that, in the United States, there has been political resistance to installing a few hundred offshore wind turbines, let alone tens of thousands. But he thinks there are two financial incentives that could motivate such a change. Those two financial incentives are, of course, the reduction of hurricane damage costs (Hurricane Sandy caused $82 billion in damages), and the simple fact that wind farms pay for themselves in the long-term — especially when you factor in the health and climate-related costs of fossil fuel power. “The turbines will also reduce damage if a hurricane comes through,” Jacobson stated. “These factors, each on their own, reduce the cost to society of offshore turbines and should be sufficient to motivate their development.”

Offshore wind development avoids problems of wind onshore

Ocean Energy Council, 2014, “Offshore Wind Energy,” http://www.oceanenergycouncil.com/ocean-energy/offshore-wind-energy/, Accessed 4/9/2014

There are several factors which suggest the development of an offshore wind energy industry. The resource is extremely large, the energy costs, although initially higher than for onshore, are cheaper than other renewable technologies and the risks are low, as several demonstration projects elsewhere have shown. Many people, while agreeing that wind turbines are a useful strategy, are not happy to see them in their area. This is the NIMBY principle – not in my back yard. Siting wind turbines at sea will reduce the constraints that can be found on land, such as the visual impact and planning challenges.

A2: Ship Collisions

No ship has ever collided with a turbine

Walter Musial, Principal Engineer, National Wind Technology Center at NREL and Bonnie Ram, Ram Power, L.L.C., September 2010, “Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States, Assessment of Opportunities and Barriers, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NERL), http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/40745.pdf, Accessed 5/10/2014

The possibility of a ship colliding with a turbine poses a potential significant risk because the result would affect safety and the marine environment should fuel or oil leak from a disabled ship or the turbine. No reported incidents have occurred, however, to date from existing wind projects, and so probabilities might be low.