A recent collapse of a turbine blade at the Vineyard Wind offshore site was spectacular, but what should it mean for the wind-power industry as a whole?
The trouble began as Vineyard Wind was testing one of its turbines in mid-July. Over a weekend, one of the blades began to crack, with slabs of fiberglass falling into the ocean. Debris ended up on beaches at Nantucket, understandably outraging many there. Beachgoers could have been hurt and the possible impacts on marine life, including endangered whales, were unknown.
Until federal regulators figure out why the 300-plus-foot-long blade crumpled, all of Vineyard Wind remains shut down. In addition, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which oversees offshore wind projects, has put an indefinite stop to further construction there. The wind farm operator blamed the incident on a manufacturing defect and insisted it was an anomaly.
Critics of wind power pounced, of course. They have long said that the Vineyard Wind turbines spoil views and have a negative impact on the marine environment. And now, fiberglass debris in the ocean?! Other voices countered, pointing out that nearly all recreational boats are made of fiberglass, and that within the vast scale of ocean pollution, a blade falling apart was not of major significance.
If there were a line to be draw between these two camps, it would be this: people whose primary concern is earth’s changing climate and those who are more concerned with other issues, such as the commercial fisheries.
For the world’s oceans — and bays, lakes, marshes, harbors, and creeks, as well as waterfront communities like ours — climate change is deadly serious. This is an existential problem, life or death. The oceans generate half of the world’s available oxygen, absorb a quarter of all carbon-dioxide emissions, and capture 90 percent of the excess heat generated by these emissions. Greenhouse gases from fossil fuels warm seawater and make it more acidic, both of which are a threat not just to our oxygen supply, not just to coastal communities through sea-level rise, but, yes, to marine life and hence fisheries.
Renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar, are literally a lifesaver and a planet-saver. Wind and solar power produce negligible emissions.
Industrial-scale wind farms can, obviously, be built either on land or at sea. Despite the technical and political challenges, giant wind farms far out at sea have the potential to generate more electricity than land-based installations. They also can be placed closer to highly urbanized areas where the demand for power is highest. According to alternative-energy analysts, land-based wind and solar cannot, given the available technology, beat offshore wind. An important factor is size: Over water, much more massive turbines are feasible.
An unanswered question is what massive wind farms might do to marine life. Also unknown is the impact of offshore wind farms on commercial fishing. But these are speculative questions; what is not a matter of guesswork are the hard facts of what sea-level rise, ocean warming, and acidification are already doing to the earth. Yes, it is highly regrettable that some bathers on Nantucket might be injured by the jagged fiberglass from turbine-blade debris, and no one likes the thought of industrial debris in our oceans, but when framed against the desperately dire health our planet is in, there is no comparison.