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Why Offshore Wind: The Argument

. Offshore Wind Energy: The North American Opportunity Bonnie Ram Ram Power, LLC Washington, DC Offshore Wind Seminar Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference Halifax 6 August 2011. Urgency to significantly reduce CO 2 and other emissions

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Why Offshore Wind: The Argument

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  1. .Offshore Wind Energy:The North American OpportunityBonnie RamRam Power, LLCWashington, DCOffshore Wind SeminarCouncil of State Governments Eastern Regional ConferenceHalifax6 August 2011

  2. Urgency to significantly reduce CO2 and other emissions Climate change mitigation; Relatively quick to deploy Diversification of the domestic portfolio for new supplies Significant reduction in water use during operations Limited utility-scale clean energy (RPS) choices along U.S. Coasts, Great Lakes, Atlantic Canada Economic development/jobs Enhance public health Proximity to loads New transmissions lines offshore Energy security Stable, long-term fuel costs Why Offshore Wind: The Argument

  3. URGENCIES: MORE APPARENT Number of Reported Daytime/Nighttime Heat Records July 2011 17 Nations

  4. Challenges in Decision Making: Lifecycle Risk Comparisons Comparative Air Pollution and GHGs Impacts Water Use by Source Generation Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico-April 2010 AP Photo

  5. Nuclear Power Renaissance?! Demolished: An aerial view of the plant taken on March 24 shows Unit 4 and Unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plantin Okumamachi. A red crane far left shows the valiant efforts of the 'Fukushima 50' www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372589/

  6. 100 Years of Domestic Natural Gas?

  7. Aerial Image of Kingston Coal Ash Slide: 5.4 cubic yards of toxic sludge in 2009 • Human risks: Coal miners • Mountaintop removals

  8. Decision Process vs. Urgencies • No national energy policy based on reducing emissions and GHGs • No installation goals for any low-carbon technology • No long term credits or financing mechanisms • Limited understanding of life cycle costs and monitoring programs • Risks are highly site-specific

  9. Process is Important

  10. Process Issues: Variety of Public Concerns • Negative/Positive community effects • Distribution of benefits and risks: The “doughnut” problem = equity issues • Value issues • Visibility and aesthetics; Spirituality • Habitat modifications • Cost to ratepayers • Social distrust of institutions and science • Significant remaining risks and uncertainties

  11. So What Can We Do?: More Attention to Process Issues Redefine robust siting strategies Commit to sustained public involvement (2-way communication) Government agencies need a long-term strategy for identifying stakeholders and partners • Do the hard work and identify “significant risks” as viewed by the community and major actors

  12. What Can You Do? • Conduct comparative life-cycle assessments • Quantify the regional and local benefits of offshore wind! • No fuel costs and stable prices! • Establish a knowledge base for comparative risks and benefits of energy options • Partner with utilities & other energy providers • Integration of variable resources has advantages • Move forward while applying lessons learned

  13. Don’t Miss the Opportunities

  14. Don’t Miss the Boat!

  15. Ram Power, LLCbonnieram@gmail.com Thank you U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program and National Wind Technology Center of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) QUESTIONS?

  16. National Offshore Wind Strategy A commitment by the federal government to facilitate responsible deployment of offshore wind energy • Provides long range strategy for • Lowering cost of energy • Prioritizing federal R&D investments • Addresses aspects of stakeholder issues • Reducing timeline for permitting and deployment • Announced by Secretary Chu and Secretary Salazar on February 7, 2011 • Backed by an initial $50.5 M in funding for offshore wind R&D

  17. More Information of Offshore Wind • NREL Report. Large Scale Offshore Wind Power • http://www.nrel.gov/wind/news/2010/893.html • Department of Energy Wind Program • http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro • American Wind Energy Association (industry) • http://www.awea.org/learnabout/offshore/index.cfm • B. Ram, “Assessing Integrated Risks of Offshore Wind Projects: Moving Towards Gigawatt-scale Deployments.” (2011). Wind Engineering. Volume 35. Number 2. Multi-Science Publishing. • B. Ram, “An Integrated Risk Framework for Gigawatt Scale Deployment of Renewable Energy: The Wind Energy Case Study,” April 2010. NREL Subcontractor Report. NREL/SR-500-47129. http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/47129.pdf

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