The United States has enough potential offshore wind power to satisfy four times of its energy needs. Though the U.S. has the largest land-based wind power capacity, its offshore wind power is almost entirely untapped. Usable winds exist off the coast of 26 states.
More about offshore wind power:
- Theoretically, the amount of potential wind power in the world would amount to more than five times the world's energy use, if tapped.
- Though using offshore wind power is "green" in terms of energy, some environmental groups argue that installing the necessary equipment would seriously harm the ecosystems in the area of the wind farms.
- More than 80 countries use offshore wind power regularly, including Denmark, where wind energy is responsible for about one-fifth of all stationary electrical energy produced per year, and Ireland, which produced about one-sixth of its electrical energy from offshore wind power in 2009.