PRESIDENT’S NEW POLICY TOUCHES GREATNESS SEEKING OCEAN POWER

On Presidents Day, NewEnergyNews salutes President Obama for fulfilling his biggest campaign promise. It has little to do with the economy in the short term and nothing to do with the controversial stimulus bill he will sign into law this week.

Obama’s campaign slogan was “Change We Can Believe In” and the U.S. electorate chose to believe in it. In office less than a month, Mr. Obama has already overseen a momentous change, a true sea change from business-as-usual under the previous administration.

Ken Salazar, President Obama’s Secretary of the Interior, last week announced he would slow down development of the very limited oil resources beneath vulnerable public landscapes and streamline development of offshore resources. Not just offshore oil and gas resources, but wind and hydrodynamic resources (wave, tide and current energies) as well.

These matters are governed by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior. The Department takes its orders from the Secretary and the Secretary takes his orders from the President. Under the previous administration, MMS moved forward slowly. That is over.

Getting the economy right is crucial for the fate of the nation in the coming decade. The President has made an admirable start at taking economic matters in hand despite what the angry masses and nattering classes might be saying today. Changing the current financial circumstances will require many months and much more. The President has only made a brave beginning.

Future generations will, it is already certain, remember Mr. Obama as the President who vigorously confronted the devastating economic burden he inherited. Whether his actions, many of which remain to be revealed, will be remembered as the most effective possible, is still to be seen.

click to enlarge

The new Obama policy at the Department of the Interior, on the other hand, virtually guarantees him a place in the pantheon of important and effective Presidents. Future generations will surely look back and say that early in 2009 a far-seeing administration chose, finally, to open up the Outer Continental Shelf and Great Lakes for the development of wind and hydrodynamic resources that will sustain the nation renewably until science fiction becomes science fact.

Mr. Obama's predecessor and his political opposition clamored pointlessly for “drill, baby, drill.” Recognizing the hard truth that U.S. oil and natural gas reserves represent a small portion of the energy the country needs, Mr. Obama sees beyond past habits to a future of “innovate, baby, innovate.”

President Obama: "Offshore drilling as part of a comprehensive energy strategy may make sense…In isolation, it's short-sighted…I hold out for a more comprehensive strategy before I sign off on whole-hog drilling offshore."

Congress allowed the ban on offshore drilling established under the first President Bush in 1990 to expire in late 2008 when high gas pump prices, the pressures of a Presidential campaign, the urgency of action on the economy and a drive to extend vital New Energy incentives made it exigent. Then President George W. Bush, a strong booster of oil industry expansion, was only too happy to oversee the change.

Unfortunately, current circumstances do not favor a political fight to re-impose the oil drilling ban. The President and the Democratic leadership have much more pressing matters to confront.

Congressman Nick Rahall (D-W.Vir), Chairman, House Natural Resources Committee: "We may be in a situation where the ship has already sailed…"

But no Congressional action is necessary to see that the New Energy resources in the Outer Continental Shelf also get their due. In fact, the Obama administration can take executive branch action using the same arguments employed to justify drilling.

Secretary Salazar: "The Outer Continental Shelf will play a critical role in ensuring that America gains energy independence…"

click to enlarge

A landmark 2007 study from researchers at the University of Delaware and Stanford University showed that the wind resources of the Mid-Atlantic coast, from Cape Cod, Mass., to Cape Hatteras, N.C., alone could generate 330 gigawatts of electricity, enough wind energy to power the coastal region. The coastal shelf there extends far offshore, allowing the relatively easy installation of turbines. (See PLUG IN TO EAST COAST WINDS)

The West Coast’s shelf is short and drops precipitously, making wind development with current technology difficult. Because of the short, steep shelf, however, the West Coast is an ideal physical environment for wave energy development.

click to enlarge

Technology White Paper on Wave Energy Potential on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, from MMS, estimated there are 2,100 Terawatt-hours/year of U.S. wave energy, close to 20% of U.S. electricity. It is reasonable to think wave energy could provide 10-to-15% of U.S. power in a carbon-constrained economy where emissions-free energy is at a premium. Renewable Energy Technologies for Use on the Outer Continental Shelf, a 2006 NREL presentation, reported that capturing 20% of the U.S. wave potential with 50% efficiency would provide as much power as all U.S. hydroelectric facilities now working.

click to enlarge

This is surely an energy resource significant enough to pursue access to, and access begins when the technology is mastered. The President is in the process of setting all that in motion.

Excitingly, an exploration of technologies that combine the capacity to capture offshore wind and wave technologies will also now go forward.

Regardless of how Afghanistan and the economy go, and they certainly could go either way, President Obama has already assured his presidency will be remembered as the one during which the nation got over its obsession with offshore drilling and finally went to work on its real offshore energy, wind and waves.

Happily, this new direction the President has set for the nation will make his fight to bring the economy back from the brink of disaster a little easier by lightening the burden of foreign energy dependence and opening up huge new opportunities for investment and jobs.

He will have to deal with the brink of disaster in Afghanistan on his own.

Nevertheless, congratulations are in order, Mr. Obama. You are now a full-fledged member of the “Remembered Presidents Club” and you will be remembered not just for the color of your skin but the content of your leadership. Keep up the good work. There’s a section of Mount Rushmore that might just be big enough for those ears.

click to enlarge

Obama ready to tap offshore oil, wind power
Barbara Barrett, February 15, 2009 (McClatchy Newspapers via Kansas City Star)

WHO
President Barack Obama; Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar; Congressman Nick Rahall (D-W.Vir), Chairman, and Congressman Doc Hastings (R-Wash), Ranking Member, House Natural Resources Committee;

click to enlarge

WHAT
Secretary Salazar announced a 6-month halt on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf while a comprehensive ocean energies plan is developed.

click to enlarge

WHEN
- The moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf set in place in 1990 expired at the end of September 2008. The Interior Department under President Bush then pushed through a 5-year drilling plan.
- Secretary Salazar delayed the drilling plan for 6 months and called for a 45-day review of all energy sources and a series of public hearings.

click to enlarge

WHERE
- The plan approved by President Bush and delayed by Secretary Salazar called for drilling off the Virginia coast in 2011.
- Hearings will be held in Mid-Atlantic coastal regions where drilling is controversial and wind power producers are anxious to develop.
- The best U.S. offshore wind power is in the “Mid-AtlanticBight” between Delaware and North Carolina.
- Experiments with wave energy have been ongoing off the coast of New Jersey but the West Coast is considered more suitable for hydrodynamic energies.

click to enlarge

WHY
- Congress is holding hearings on the viability and value of offshore drilling.
- A U.S. Department of Energy 2008 study found that it is entirely feasible for the U.S. to obtain 20% of its power by 2030.
- One research study concluded 166,720 5-megawatt offshore turbines would have a 330 gigawatt generation capacity, enough power to eliminate all other forms of fuel in the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
- The U.S. is estimated to have in excess of 10,000 gigawatts of potential wind power, well over 4,000 gigawatts of it offshore.
- A key advantage of offshore wind and wave energy projects is that they provide power near the urban population centers and therefore require less new, long-distance transmission.
- As outlined in a 2008 American Wind Energy Association presentation by Jim Lanard of Bluewater Wind, the role of the executive branch in moving offshore develop forward includes (1) publishing the final MMS rules and regulations, (2) completing a NEPA review, (3) establishing best leasing and operating practices and fees, (4) permitting, (5) expanding staff to meet all needs and (6) coordinating between involved agencies.
- The role of Congress includes (1) making certain incentives such as a production tax credit are in place, and (2) supporting regulation and funding.

click to enlarge

QUOTES
- Congressman Doc Hastings (R-Wash), Ranking Member, House Natural Resources Committee: "It is entirely possible that America could multiply our undiscovered resources in the Atlantic many times over…Without further exploration it is impossible to tell exactly what amount of oil and gas reserves the United States is neglecting."
- Mark Rodgers, spokesman, Cape Wind: "I think it's going to be easier to develop wind projects, whether it's off the coast of Massachusetts or off the coast of North Carolina…"