For years, news outlets have reported on the possibility that offshore wind will be the future of the U.S. energy industry. In reality, it’s been a slow-growing sector. But Chris Tomlinson, an opinion columnist for the Houston Chronicle, says that may be changing.
Tomlinson says offshore wind started to gain popularity just before the hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – boom about a decade ago. Then, it fizzled because it wasn’t competitive.
“Fracking came along and made natural gas very, very cheap,” Tomlinson says.
But he says that natural gas – much of which is produced in Texas – doesn’t make its way to the population-dense Northeast because people in that region don’t want a cross-country pipeline. As a result, he says they’re interested in local alternatives like offshore wind.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How European countries have excelled at using offshore wind, and how they provide a template for what can be done in the U.S.
– How technology used at Texas’ terrestrial wind farms could be applied to future offshore wind farms in the Northeast
– Why cities in the Northeast likely won’t end up using wind-derived energy from Texas
Written by Caroline Covington.
