Such dreams of wind farms enriching ocean wildlife -- or impacting it in any way -- may be a bit premature, Michael Dvorak of Stanford University said. For one thing, all current farms are situated in water far shallower than the 100-meter (328-foot) depth assumed in the Brostrom's paper. Some deeper farms have been proposed, but maintenance costs skyrocket the further from shore windmills are. And Brostrom's study is a very general model -- ocean currents and marine life could be affected in very different ways depending on the location of the farm. "If you want to understand how ocean currents are really going to be affected, you'll want to include the bathymetry at the site," Dvorak said, referring to analysis of underwater depth, as well as do a detailed, specific study of the area's ecosystem. Stil, Dvorak pointed out Brostrom's study raises a point no one in the wind power industry had yet considered. "People have looked at the climate effects of wind farms on land, but this is the first to bring up the question of ocean currents," he said. "This is something we should be looking at." Related Links: Planet Green: What You Didn't Know About Wind Power |
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