NORTH ATLANTIC WIND FARMS COULD POWER THE WORLD

Wind is one of the cleanest energy sources available, and the US is sitting next to a gold mine. A new study has found that wind speeds over the ocean allow offshore turbines to generate far more energy than a land-based wind farm. With the North Atlantic, theoretically, the offshore wind will be able to provide enough energy for the entire human civilization. 

In tapping into the wind as an energy resource, the US is playing catch-up with countries like Europe and the UK, which are home to the largest offshore wind farms in the world. The US's first facility opened up off the coast of Rhode Island last year, and if the Trident Winds project goes ahead, it could snatch up the title of the world's largest wind farm. 

In addition to being safer for bird life and less disruptive to humans, the main advantage of setting up wind farms offshore is the fact that the wind speeds are higher out there. 

In theory, those wind speeds are five times more powerful, but whether that would translate electricity production gains was another question. Researchers at Carnegie Science set out to find the answer:

"Are the winds so fast just because there is nothing out there to slow them down?" asks Ken Caldeira, co-author of the new study. "Will sticking giant wind farms out there just slow down the winds so much that it is no better than over land?"

According to their results, turbines in the ocean would not drag down the winds speeds as much as those over land would, and in some areas, the wind could generate three times as much electricity as their land-based counterparts. 

"We found that giant ocean-based wind farms are able to tap into the energy of the winds throughout much of the atmosphere, whereas wind farms onshore remain constrained by the near-surface wind resources," says Anna Possner, co-author of the study.

The North Atlantic is for wind energy, and the research team also found that its productivity would vary by the season. In the summer, such a huge, theoretical offshore wind farm, could be able of powering the entire US and Europe, but in the winter, the team says there is enough energy on offer to meet the needs of the whole world. 

The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.