Ocean Power Maps

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 30 April 2010

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Creating Ocean Wind Power Maps

The emergence of ocean wind power maps will aid the more accurate construction of wind power maps, enabling the discovery of new offshore wind power locations.

Efforts to harness nonrenewable energy sources includes the significant work done by scientists in creating ocean wind power maps that will point out ocean areas suitable for producing wind energy.

These maps have been drafted from data provided by the QuickSCAT (Quick Scatterometer) satellite, which is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Division. The QuickSCAT satellite, which was launched in 1999, provides vital data relating to the speed and direction of strong gusts of air flowing over the ocean’s surface, all of which are helpful to construct accurate wind power maps. The new maps will not only attract potential investors but will enable scientists and researchers to plan the location of offshore wind farms that expect to convert wind energy into electricity.

Until the mid 1990’s, these widely scattered, offshore oceanic sources of wind energy were apparently untouched due to the lack of sufficient resources and technical advancements.

The energy statistics published by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) in 2007 indicates that countries like the US, Spain and China have emerged as wind power leaders. The total installed wind power capacity of these nations between 1996 and 2007 is estimated at around 20,000 MW, whereas the global cumulative installed capacity is estimated at 94,123 MW.

According to the chief technologist of JPL, Paul Dimotakis, wind energy potential will be able to deliver 15-20% of the global energy requirements. If wind energy is tapped across oceans areas with high winds, around 500 to 800 watts of wind power could be harvested per square meter, stated Tim Liu, QuikSCAT science team leader at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The conversion of wind power into electricity can be a more efficient process than converting solar power. Moreover, the cost per watt of electricity produced is lower for wind power.


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