About renewable energy for those of you who may have missed this over the weekend.

“It turns out that after studying and developing detailed computer modeling, the Gulfstream Current is at its closest
and in a most consistent strength offshore of . . . you guessed it . . . Lake Worth.”

—Quote. Lake Worth Mayor Pam Triolo. State of the City Address, January 2017.*
 

Item 4B5 on agenda at TCRPC next week: “Offshore Renewable Energy Leasing Request for Public Feedback”.

The Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) meets next Friday, May 18th at 9:30.

TCRPC meetings are held at the Wolf High Technology Center at Indian River State College (Chastain Campus), 2400 SE Salerno Rd. in Stuart. Two excerpts from agenda item 4B5 are below.

Excerpt #1:

Introduction

At its December 8, 2017 meeting, Council adopted Resolution 17-05 opposing offshore oil exploration, drilling, and seismic testing in the southeast Atlantic Ocean; and encouraging alternatives to new offshore drilling projects, such as offshore wind energy and ocean current energy projects to increase the proportion of electricity produced from renewable resources. [emphasis added] That resolution was submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. Congressional delegation from Florida, the Florida Legislature, and the Governor. BOEM is responsible for advancing the responsible development of offshore energy and marine mineral resources covering over 1.7 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The purpose of this item is to provide Council with information regarding BOEM’s current request for public feedback on a “path forward” for future offshore wind energy development on the Atlantic OCS.

Background and Analysis

A key aspect of implementing President Donald J. Trump’s America-First Offshore Energy Strategy is the initiation of a new National OCS Program development process, outlined in Executive Order (E.O.) 13795 of April 28, 2017; and Secretary Order 3350 of May 1, 2017, issued by Secretary of the Interior Ryan K. Zinke. Section 2 of E.O. 13795 states that it is United States policy to encourage energy exploration and production to maintain the nation’s global energy leadership and ‘‘foster energy security and resilience for the benefit of the American people, while ensuring that any such activity is safe and environmentally responsible.’’

BOEM is currently conducting a high-level assessment of all waters offshore the United States Atlantic Coast for potential future offshore wind lease locations. BOEM has already awarded 13 leases of approximately 17 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in offshore wind energy leases off every state from Cape Hatteras in North Carolina to Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and has received requests from state and industry stakeholders requesting that additional lease areas be proposed.

Excerpt #2:

Conclusion

Offshore wind energy, ocean current, and hydrothermal energy projects are needed to increase the proportion of electricity produced from renewable resources. The use of these renewable resources is preferred over the traditional burning of fossil fuels, because they do not result in greenhouse gas emissions nor do they create the risk of accidents such as oil spills. Offshore wind energy production is also preferable to offshore oil drilling which could have negative effects on Florida’s major economic engine, the tourism industry that relies on clean waters and healthy beaches. A continued effort to develop and commercially produce renewable energy is a sustainable strategy for the future welfare of our region, state, and country.

Although the cost of constructing offshore wind energy infrastructure is more expensive than building facilities onshore, the capital costs for offshore wind generation are rapidly decreasing. This is due in part to advancements in the technology of turbines and platforms, and increasing interest worldwide in the production of this type of renewable energy. Many states are aggressively moving to develop offshore wind projects. In our region and state, this could mean jobs not only in wind energy production, but in the production of the turbines, and installation and operation of offshore wind farms.

An image from TCRPC agenda item 4B5 is below.

“BOEM Planning Factors Summary Score for Identifying Possible Forecast Areas”

Click on image to enlarge (shaded gray are
Department of Defense exclusion areas):

Note text from image: “Some NMS areas are too small to be seen at current map scale.”

*To learn more about this quote from Mayor Triolo click on this link.