Offshore Energy — Out of Sight, Out of Mind?

Although the push to use renewable energy sources is increasing, more people don’t want the facilities near them. The idea of using a cleaner energy source is intriguing, until a towering wind turbine ends up in someone’s backyard.

One way to counteract this public disturbance is the use of offshore energy. For example, I saw an interesting video on floating solar panels yesterday. With technology like this, the water actually acts as a coolant and helps generate even more power than traditional panels. There are even floating platforms for wind turbines and offshore farms. The panels and turbines end up in the distant waters, rather than positioned near neighborhoods.

Since new technology is becoming available and constantly developing, why not utilize the wide open water sources? Offshore power facilities can someday become the answer to tomorrow’s utility-scale producers, as well as create a reliable solution on where these plants should go.