Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's needed now

Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by Dumblydorr on Thursday November 14, 2019 @02:38PM (#21538605)

Transmission!!! A huge appeal of offshore for densely populated areas is you can put the huge turbines far off the coast of a dense area and then have very effective transmission, something which onshore is vastly limited by due to NIMBYism and lobbying and regulation.

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Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by aqme28 on Thursday November 14, 2019 @03:49PM (#21539239)

Unfortunately, offshore gets hit by NIMBYism a lot more than it should. Senator Ted Kennedy axed wind off the Massachussetts coast because it would interfere with his view.

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Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by throwaway5752 on Thursday November 14, 2019 @04:57PM (#21539906)

Ted Kennedy has been dead for a decade. More recently, the president said that the noise from wind turbines gives people cancer. In the end they are just two people that are wrong.

"NIMBYism" is a word that turns off critical thought in some people and ruins discussions.

There is a large inventory of coastlines with wind energy potential. There will be many distractions as they are developed by coal companies trying to derail those projects. That may be through astroturfing which will present itself as "NIMBYism" and divides people to weaken them.

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Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by malcolmhere on Thursday November 14, 2019 @06:28PM (#21540679)

Anyone who complains wind-turbines being unsightly should be forced to live next to an oil-refinery :-(

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Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by ocschwar on Thursday November 14, 2019 @03:40PM (#21539165)

And offshore winds are steady, reliable, and really conveniently timed: early evening is the peak, right after solar is done.

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Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by vasili111 on Thursday November 14, 2019 @04:41PM (#21539766)

In that case they will compliment each other well.

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Re:Offshore wind will be a $1T industry by 2040, but it's ne... by beat on Thursday November 14, 2019 @05:04PM (#21539970)

Not so much NIMBY/regulation as lack of good sites onshore. Low efficiency sites effectively increase the cost.

Additionally, a lot of densely populate coastal areas are populated quite a ways inland. You need open space around the big wind turbines for safety reasons - farmland is best.

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