No, this article has nothing to do with Snookie and the Jersey Shore series. New Jersey yesterday passed a law that would ultimately make it the leading provider of offshore wind energy in the country.
The Offshore Wind Economic Development Act directs the state’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to establish an offshore renewable energy certificate program that calls for a percentage of electricity sold in the state to be from offshore wind energy. The act would support the development of at least 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind energy capacity. 1,100 megawatts would require at least 440 off shore wind turbines to generate that kind of power. If they are successful, this new renewable energy could power 1.1 million homes. Each large off shore win New Jersey plans on becoming the country’s wind energy mega state. d turbine can generate 2.5 megawatts of power. The cool thing was that this bill was signed into law yesterday at a former BP port facility, which will be transformed into a regional hub for the offshore wind industry. The new bill will offer incentives including financial aid and tax credits to attract wind energy developers to the state’s waters. Right now the only off shore wind turbines in state waters are found by Atlantic City, NJ. This is the second state to create this kind of initiative since Massachusetts passed the Cape Wind offshore farm act. Every state in the union that has access to ocean front real estate needs to pass similar legislation. Every windmill, every solar panel, every geothermal well, we add to this nation’s energy grid reduces our dependency on fossil fuels. It will create new jobs, and lower our carbon emissions. Nothing but a win-win scenario can arise from such efforts.
Photo: Wind farm off the coast of Denmark Photo Credit: Engineering News
What about migratory birds- and who’s view of the coast will be affected and accepted? While I agree with the goal of less dependency and use of fossil fuel, didn’t Cape Cod resist the placement of windmills off their coast?