Wind Energy

Yeah. This presentation, we're going to take a look at

offshore wind energy.

Offshore wind has been a developing technology for the past

two decades.

As the United States searches for sustainable energy sources that

are scalable offshore wind farms have been a proven option.

Countries around the world have been using and developing offshore

wind farms for over a decade.

Mm. And the United States has just started to dive

into this technology and really commit to building these offshore

wind energy farms.

Driving our search for sustainable energy is a global commitment

to reducing carbon emissions.

Yeah. For the last two centuries, the world has relied

on energy sources that create greenhouse gases as a by

product, such as oil and coal.

Yeah, as we continue to learn about the harmful effects

these greenhouse gases have on our planet, we're beginning to

understand how important it is to evolve and define sustainable

sources of energy.

Okay, it has become an proven fact that fossil fuels

have a negative impact on our planet.

These resources are not only finite, but they are creating

global climate change at an unprecedented rate.

As our global population continues to grow, the demand for

energy is increasing exponentially not only with population growth, but

as we rely more on advanced technology in our daily

lives technologies, such as computers, data centers for storage for

all of our information.

Almost every part of our life has become a digital

and that requires power.

So why wind wind has been proven to be a

scalable sustainable energy source.

Other countries have been using it and implementing it for

over a decade successfully.

It uses no water emits no greenhouse gases while the

United States has committed to onshore wind farms.

The next question we have to ask is why offshore

well offshore winds have higher sustained speeds because there's less

obstructions and there's no topography to obstruct any wind flow.

This allows for more reliable energy generate energy to be

generated. Yeah, next, we're gonna take a look at just

how it works.

Wind energy generation is a very simple principle.

As the wind blows the blades turn and as the

blades turn, power is generated with a generator that's mounted

inside of the Ter gun itself.

Here is a very simplified overview of the wind turban

and how it operates.

You can see the wind coming through over the blades

and inside of the, of the wind turban.

There's a gearbox that actually turns a generator and that

generator is actually what is producing the energy.

That energy is then transferred back to the grid.

Here is a more broad overview of a wind farm

and how it operates offshore and actually transfers the power

back to the shore.

Multiple wind turbines will be constructed to for for an

offshore wind farm.

Those turbans were will generate energy that will then go

to a substation, which is also located offshore.

This substation will then transfer the low voltage energy generated

by the turbines into high voltage energy and will be

transferred all the way back to shore via cable to

a main onshore primary power station.

The United States is just starting our venture into offshore

wind energy.

And with that comes a lot of challenges that we

need to overcome to be able to implement this technology

successfully. Of these challenges are definitely environmental concerns.

One thing we don't want to do is we pursue

new energy sources is to create new problems.

While trying to fix old ones.

Researchers have been studying onshore wind farms and the offshore

wind farms abroad to see what these environmental concerns could

be that we could encounter and how we can overcome

them. A main concern is both avian and that wildlife.

The turbines himself.

The turbines himself pose a risk to both migratory and

politic and marine birds, and many of the migratory birds

that are found offshore are either threatened or endangered species.

Here are some of the risks that these offshore wind

farms will pose to these birds, as these birds migrate

and search for food sources offshore.

And the marine environment collisions are a main concern, collisions

with the turbine is fatal to these birds and is

being studied extensively with the onshore wind farms and how

we can apply it to offshore.

In addition to the risk of collision, many marine birds

rely on offshore food sources with the construction of these

large scale offshore wind farms, these marine birds will experience

a loss of habitat and feeding grounds that they rely

on. Currently being studied are the bat population and the

risk that these offshore turbines will pose to them offshore

currently does not seem to be a primary concern, but

has been well document that documented that wind turbines on

shore are a major threat and near shore wind turbine

farms could present a threat as well.

Okay. In addition to the structure that's above the ocean,

the foundations and anchoring systems that's required for these large

structures to keep them steady will have an impact on

the sea floor and the marine life that live on

the sea floor.

Mhm. With multiple types of anchoring systems being explored and

developed, all of them will in one way or another

encounter. The sea floor and the marine life.

Scientists are currently studying how we can mitigate the risk

that this poses to the marine life.

Another likely risk offshore.

That is a concern is that after decades of offshore

dumping it is highly likely these workers will encounter items

that pose a safety risk to both themselves and the

environment. Some of these items include offshore ordinance and explosives

that have been dumped for decades.

In addition to the environmental challenges, there are many extensive

construction challenges that currently exist for the United States to

develop these offshore wind farms.

Current regulations are such that any ship that is not

flagged in the United States cannot work in our territorial

waters. And while this type of marine equipment has been

developed in other countries, it was not able to work

in our territorial waters.

Much of this equipment is specialist and just does not

currently exist in the United States.

In addition to the equipment being used for this for

the construction.

More importantly, the U.

S. Does not currently have a trained or experienced work

workforce for offshore wind construction.

So far today, we have only developed one test site

and an offshore farm and it was a near shore

test site that doesn't include the difficulties in the further

offshore construction areas.

Following the construction of the turbines themselves, the power has

to be able to get to shore.

This involves the construction, trenching and laying of cable lines

offshore on the sea floor.

Being able to ensure that these lines are laid safely

and accurately is going to be a very difficult challenge

to overcome.

Finally, as with any energy plant, it requires a lot

of upkeep and maintenance.

The offshore environment offshore marine environment is one of the

harshest environments on earth.

Not only currently do we not have the personnel or

the equipment to construct these offshore wind farms, but we

also lack the personnel and equipment required to maintain them.

This is going to be in an important aspect of

keeping these plants running for their life cycle.

Overcoming these challenges is going to take time and perseverance.

The first hurdle of constructing these offshore wind farms is

definitely political.

Offshore wind is no different than any other aspect of

our life.

Different groups, environmental politicians from both sides will need to

come together and reach agreements on how to implement this

technology and how to construct it.

Laws will need to be made and implemented.

This is an entirely new type of power grid that

the United States does not currently have, and we'll need

to be set.

Okay, Next is going to be committing to building the

equipment. Construction of these types of vessels can take up

to four years just to build the vessel itself, investing

now to ensure that we can get these.

Get these offshore wind farms constructed in a timely manner

is essential.

Training. Our workforce is going to be an important step.

We need qualified workers that can build, install and also

maintain the equipment safety is essential in working this type

of environment.

So being so, having qualified people that can safely do

this work is critical.

Finally, staying ahead of the curve is gonna be important

over the next, over the upcoming decades, not just an

offshore wind technology, but another in pursuing other sustainable technology

as well.

Solar technology is a developed technology and is currently being

harnessed in a scalable way.

It can be used in conjunction with other sustainable technologies

and it's important that we continue to continue our pursuit

of this type of power.

Hydropower has been a scalable source of power for decades,

but instead of leaving it in its current state, we

need to continue to develop it to find a better

way to implement it.

It still continues to have an environmental impact with a

damming up rivers, and we need to continue to pursue

how to shrink this environmental impact.

Another developing technology is biomass energy.

Currently it is in its infancy form, but it harnesses

the energy from waste, which is already being generated by

both nature or by mankind.

I appreciate you taking the time to watch this presentation.

Thank you.

Wind Energy

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