Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.2
Offshore and Onshore Wind Energy Potential, by Wind Power Classification
6
3
5-6
5-6
3
6-7
3-4
4-6
3
6
3-5
4-5
3-6
3-5
3-5
3-4
3-4
Wind Power
Wind speed at 50m
3
4-5
Classification
(m/s)
3
Fair
6.4-7
4
Good
7.0-7.5
5
Excellent
7.5-8.0
6
Outstanding
8.0-8.8
7
Superb
8.8
-11.1
Source:
Zones interpolated from USDOE 2011c.
Notes:
Numbers apply to areas between the isobars.
Reducing the elevation to fifty meters, adding offshore areas to the assessment, and applying a
technology-based rating system to the data reveals a very different picture of areas economically
desirable for wind energy development, as illustrated in
Figure 6.2.
Using a rating scheme developed
by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, coastal areas near the Great Lakes and offshore of the
northern East and West Coasts appear more desirable for wind energy development than most onshore
areas in the contiguous United States. One notable exception appears to be a narrow north-south line
of small areas rated as “superb” running roughly parallel to the Rocky Mountains from southeastern
Wyoming through southern New Mexico. The Aleutian Islands of Alaska, although having “superb”
wind resource potential, are located at such great distances from population centers with high electricity
demand as to render them undesirable for large-scale energy development. Offshore areas in the Gulf
of Mexico appear less desirable for development, about on a par with most onshore areas. Although it is
true that winds are generally stronger at higher elevations, due to differences in wind resource potential
onshore and offshore taller wind turbines may be more suitable for onshore wind energy development,
and shorter turbine towers more suitable for offshore development in the United States.
Windmills convert the motion or kinetic energy in wind into mechanical power, which can be
used for grinding grain or pumping water, or a generator turbine can convert it into electricity.
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