Some thoughts on offshore wind energy

My whole career, I have always implored my children, students, employees and colleagues to consider all factors when making decisions. We are regularly faced with choices to make. Granted, most of them aren’t life-threatening, and hopefully pretty routine, but decisions just the same.

I guess it’s an underlying factor of education. Learn and gather as much knowledge as possible, then make the best decision with the facts available. Sometimes decisions are careful, well-planned and thought-out. At other times, like while driving, they are split-second, or even reflex reactions.

In previous columns, I’ve focused on technology, vocational training and education. I even quoted TV personality Mike Rowe, of “Dirty Jobs” fame. Education and technology are two of my favorite topics. On a recent episode, the “Dirty Jobs” crew had to travel to an offshore wind turbine to do some maintenance. Now, that’s a factor of wind power I hadn’t considered.

It seems that most wind turbines have 80 gallons of oil in them that must be changed roughly once a year. Did you know that this “green” energy source needs 1,400 liters of oil to operate? And maintenance crews have to get to their usually remote locations. They might be in the middle of an ocean, 250 or 300 feet in the air. No small task.

Now, I’m not writing for or against any form of alternative energy; every power source has its pros and cons. Let’s be clear: There is no such thing as an energy source with no environmental impact. It’s more of a realization of what is necessary for reliable wind power.

First, the turbine has to be designed and approved. A suitable location must be found, with necessary land or ocean-use permits. Construction costs can range from $2 million to $4 million, and involve many manufacturing processes, including steel production, and miles of aluminum or copper cables placed deep in the ocean to transmit the power generated back to land. Ocean-based turbines require much more maintenance due to the saltwater and harsh conditions, with a use expectancy of just 30 years.

No energy source is free. Recently, a wind turbine off the coast of New England failed, and a 300-foot section of damaged blade fell into the water. This raised myriad questions. The Nantucket shoreline was littered with debris from the fiberglass blade. How was marine life affected? What about the navigational difficulties for fishermen and maritime traffic?

We’re told that plastic straws negatively affect marine life. This wasn’t a .42-gram drinking straw; it was a 35-ton fiberglass blade. That’s a lot of straws in one fell swoop! Manufacturers have been working hard to eliminating soft-drink six-pack rings due to their environmental impact. Thankfully, they’re becoming a thing of the past. But then we stick a 200-ton turbine in the middle of the ocean.

Again, I use these analogies as a means of comparison, and I’m not advocating for or against drinking straws, six-pack yokes or wind turbines. We have seen that these turbines, and the cables that carry power from them, have affected fishermen and marine life, even when they operate properly. We also know that there seems to be higher cancer rates when homes are near multiple high-tension lines. Lines on the ocean floor must affect marine life as well, no?

Not that wind turbines are bad. They have provided an average of 10 percent of the energy produced in the United States annually. That’s a lot of kilowatts. The point is not that I agree or disagree with any particular energy source, but did you know all this? I didn’t, and I want to be informed. All too often I hear smart people claiming that wind energy is free and clean.

Before flying off the handle on any subject, what’s the harm of considering all factors? Listening is a lost art.

Obviously, a column on energy would require more like a weeklong (monthlong?) miniseries on the history, development, improvements, future and thousands of “grid” questions on energy. I don’t know what the answers are; no one does. But I do know that research, education and diversity seem to be the solutions, or at least steps in the right direction.

OK, now let’s apply all that we didn’t know about wind turbines to what we don’t know about politics and world affairs. Of course we’re all entitled to free speech, and to our own opinions. But are they educated and informed decisions? Can we support them with facts, not feelings? Let that sink in.

Ed Fare is the mayor of Valley Stream.