A recent study commissioned by the State of New York yielded some encouraging news for wind farms such as the Offshore Wind Preserve planned by Outer Banks Ocean Energy Corporation (OBOE) – most notably, that wind development’s environmental impact is smallest among the six major types of energy generation.

According to an article by Gail Kalinoski in the July issue of North American Windpower, the study, completed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), determined that wind energy poses low to moderate potential risks to wildlife. Wind power outperformed five other types of energy generation – coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and hydro – in limiting contributions to wildlife risks.

The study, “Comparison of Reported Effects and Risks to Vertebrate Wildlife from Six Electricity Generation Types in the New York/New England Region,” took a comprehensive look at the entire project life cycle for each source of energy. “Resource extraction, fuel transportation, construction of the facility, power generation, transmission and delivery, and decommissioning of the facility” were all taken into account during the study.

The results get to the heart of why projects like OBOE’s Offshore Wind Preserve are so important – through offshore wind, we can provide reliable electricity to North Carolina while seeing a considerable reduction in our environmental footprint. As we have mentioned before, North Carolina has a unique opportunity to host an offshore wind farm in suitable conditions; the fact that wind energy is less intrusive upon its surroundings makes for an even stronger case.

Studies like the NYSERDA report serve as a launch pad for research and planning for improved wind farms, like the OBOE Offshore Wind Preserve, in the coming years. We have an increasingly clearer understanding of how to protect the marine and air-based species who call the waters off North Carolina’s coast home. Protecting birds and fish that frequently travel through the proposed sites of OBOE’s wind farm is a high priority. Our plans call for extensive avian and aquatic environmental studies in order to preserve, protect and enhance the environment for fish and other wildlife.

We are excited to bring to North Carolina a project that gives residents a great source of clean energy and pumps dollars back into the state and local economy. But since we are also part of the community to which we contribute, we understand the importance of retaining our environmental vitality. Promoting wind power as an energy source is a great start, but it is only the beginning of energy independence for North Carolina and the United States.

Listed on the Outer Banks Ocean Energy Corporation (OBOE) Web site is the logo designating the company as a member of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). We are proud to carry that affiliation. AWEA is the leading wind energy association in the United States, and it has a critical role in the evolving policies and the spread of information about renewable projects such as our Offshore Wind Farm.

More than 1,900 members strong, the American Wind Energy Association represents wind power project developers, equipment suppliers, services providers, parts manufacturers, utilities, researchers and others in promoting the importance of wind energy in the United States. It plays a major role in shaping domestic policy on the future of wind production, and is a hub of resources for start-up projects such as OBOE. Simultaneously, the organization does a fantastic job of educating the public on the benefits associated with greater wind power production in order to meet the energy needs of businesses and consumers. In addition, OBOE is a member of the AWEA Offshore Wind Working Group. This group focuses on the key issues and development opportunities and challenges that are unique to offshore wind projects.

We mentioned in an earlier post that AWEA was one of the many resources critical to the success of projects such as OBOE. It is true that groups such as AWEA clear the path for initiatives like our planned Offshore Wind Farm to become a reality. Through networking such as the annual WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition, the organization is able to convene the industry’s top business and regulatory leaders in order to share their expertise. Held in May, WINDPOWER 2009 saw more than 23,000 attendees. (Mark your calendars for May 23-26, 2010, when the WINDPOWER conference comes to the Dallas Convention Center.)

We want to continue to form strategic partnerships with groups like AWEA to help ensure that our plans to bring an offshore wind farm to North Carolina’s coast run smoothly and benefit the maximum number of people. Our aims are to provide the most technologically-advanced wind farm available and to deliver clean energy to the local transmission grid that is reliable and cost effective. We want North Carolinians to take pride in our Offshore Wind Project as a benchmark of success and a litmus test by which future offshore wind projects are measured.

North Carolina is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to growing resources for renewable energy. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced in late June that the state will receive $30 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, to be used by the Department of Energy’s State Energy Program (SEP) in order to generate new renewable energy projects.

In North Carolina, a revolving loan fund and competitive grants will provide affordable loans to organizations promoting new projects. And the state’s higher education systems will implement a more rigorous training and workforce program.

The federal ARRA legislation includes positive language for the renewable energy industry, among other provisions going toward higher education, infrastructure and healthcare. Its stated energy goal is to provide during the next three years the capital necessary to double U.S. renewable energy capacity.

The $30 million in announced funding is fantastic news for North Carolinians. Only three other states – California, Missouri and New Hampshire – received funding for energy programs. (About $150 million total was earmarked as part of the ARRA state energy initiative.) This significant investment will help accelerate the pace in creating projects like the offshore wind preserve that Outer Banks Ocean Energy (OBOE) has planned.

The federal government has taken an important step in distributing ARRA funds in a calculated manner to states who have demonstrated the capacity to become clean energy leaders. Now it is up to North Carolina to fulfill that expectation.

Through OBOE, we have a wonderful opportunity to give customers a much-needed boost through a clean, efficient technology. Our offshore hybrid energy preserve will harness ocean wind energy and, as time goes on, ocean wave and current power.

Once the state demonstrates that it has successfully implemented its State Energy Program plan, it will receive another $38 million from ARRA. That funding will have a profound impact that will leave a lasting impression on our energy infrastructure. North Carolinians will be part of the federal stimulus funds that will be allocated into a growth industry that now is equipped to blaze a path for offshore wind power in the United States.

Offshore wind farms are producing energy in Europe. The population density there limits the availability of on-land wind sites; fortunately, the coastlines in areas like the United Kingdom have large regions of shallow waters that are suitable for operating offshore wind farms. The European energy industry has constructed offshore wind farms on a significant scale. Moreover, there is strong government support for the offshore wind industry. According to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), wind accounted for 43 percent of the continent’s new electricity generating capacity in 2008.

Finding available offshore space for wind farms proves more challenging in the United States. The costs associated with connecting an offshore wind farm to the electrical transmission grid on land rise significantly as a site is positioned farther offshore and farther from critical shoreside interconnection locations. Most of the focus to date has been on the northern end of the U.S. eastern seaboard, particularly around the coastal areas of New England.

North Carolina offers the superb offshore wind resources necessary for a productive offshore wind farm. It is our belief that an efficient and effective project can be completed off our coast.

The reason why the coastal winds are energetic becomes apparent when looking at some basic oceanography. The Gulf Stream follows the outer edge of the Continental Shelf along the East Coast, from Florida to Cape Hatteras. The shelf is wide across northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. But as one enters North Carolina, the shelf narrows considerably, allowing the warm Gulf Stream to flow closer to the coastline. Since warm Gulf Stream water has an amplifying effect on the low-level winds much of the time, the Stream’s position close to the North Carolina coast helps provide for more energetic winds there.

Most wind power experts agree that the available coastal areas between Massachusetts and the North Carolina-South Carolina border are of the highest quality for offshore wind farm placement. This area has the potential to generate hundreds of gigawatts of electrical power for a region that consumes almost a quarter of the nation’s electricity. The newly-formed Outer Banks Ocean Energy Corporation (OBOE) has identified regions along the North Carolina coast with wind capacity comparable to those areas in Europe successfully operating offshore wind farms. By many studies, the North Carolina winds are among the most favorable for energy production.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s report that wind power can supply 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030 suggests an aggressive growth strategy for offshore wind. With the government’s recent policy shifts, there has been an influx of exploratory leases, including those in New Jersey and Delaware. Thanks to an offshore environment highly conducive to wind production, North Carolina has a tremendous opportunity to set the pace and standard for an American Wind Energy Renaissance.