Ten reasons why US should go for offshore wind power

1. US has enormous offshore wind energy potential. US could produce more than 4,000 GW of electricity from offshore wind — four times the nation’s current generating capacity from all other energy sources.

2. Offshore wind energy projects have significantly larger efficiency compared to wind projects on land because offshore winds are much more powerful and blow with significantly higher frequency than the ones on land.

3. With well developed offshore wind energy sector US would improve its energy security.

4. With well developed offshore wind energy sector US would be more energy independent, and wouldn't have to rely so much on foreign fuel import.

5. The strong development of offshore wind industry would create many well payed renewable energy jobs. For instance, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory calculated that if US would develop at least 54 gigawatts of offshore wind energy (the amount needed to reach the goal of producing 20 percent of its electricity from wind by 2030) then this would mean around 45,000 well payed jobs within the domestic offshore wind industry.

6. Global offshore wind energy market will grow significantly in years to come, and developing strong offshore wind energy sector could mean better competitiveness with China in clean energy race.

7. Offshore wind farms could be built significantly larger compared to the ones on land, which means that they could produce lot more electricity.

8. Offshore wind farms carry very small environmental risks.

9. Offshore wind farms are not connected with complaints about visual appeal since most of them are barely visible from the land.

10. Offshore wind energy sector could give boost to US wind energy sector that is somewhat stagnating in 2010, after the tremendous growth in 2008 and 2009.