Good update from EcoGeek

Off-shore wind, as you know, has struggled, at least here on the upper East Coast, to gain final approvals and acceptance by both government and citizens.  The reluctance revolves around many issues, including, and for good reason, concern about the turbines impact on fish and marine life.

Here's an interesting alternative though, of course, it does not change the need to run long transmission lines to get power back to the mainland.  However, this is encouraging, new technology:

First US Floating Turbine Launched

Written by Philip Proefrock on 03/06/13

The first grid-connected floating wind turbine has been launched off the coast of Maine, moving the US forward in its deployment of offshore wind power. Offshore wind has been well developed, particularly in Europe. But, despite havingextensive wind resources, the US has done very little until now in the way of establishing offshore wind power.

The VolturnUS turbine is actually only a 1:8 scale development model from the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center. Nonetheless, the structure is a 65 foot (19.8 meters) tall, and produces enough power that it can be tied to the grid.

This turbine will serve primarily for design study and data collection. According to the Department of Energy, the VolturUS "will collect data to validate and improve floating wind turbine designs, while helping to address technical barriers to greater offshore wind cost reductions."