Pauline Seales
Santa Cruz Climate Action Network (SCCAN)
The answer is that we desperately need clean new electricity to supply the switch to electrification. We need to do this to greatly reduce the impact of climate change and to ensure a livable world for our grandchildren. Many people are switching to electric cars and electric heat pumps for hot water and home heating and cooling. Although this greatly reduces planet warming greenhouse emissions, it will require a lot more electricity.
When offshore wind is mentioned, some people imagine giant wind turbines looming over a favorite beach – that is not what is coming. The wind farm lease areas will be 20 -35 miles offshore and it will be very difficult to see them unless you are on a high cliff with binoculars.
There are currently 2 areas being planned: one off the Humboldt coast and one off the Central Coast near Cambria, usually referred to as the Morro Bay site. Two clean new ports are planned: one in Humboldt and one at Long Beach for Morro Bay. The Central Coast will not be home to the assembly of the giant turbine platforms as they will be built at either Long Beach or Humboldt and then towed to their locations. A much smaller supply and maintenance port will be needed somewhere along the Central Coast area, and will provide some local jobs.
For the West Coast, generally, floating platforms are planned, as the water is far too deep for anchored platforms. Floating platforms involve less environmental risk than anchored ones and the technology is already in use in Europe. One big advantage here is that the wind is strong and steady through the peak demand evening hours when solar energy wanes, reducing the amount of battery storage needed.
Very extensive environmental care is promised. Bill SB 80 by John Laird and Dawn Addis passed last year and calls for a thorough baseline study of all aspects of the environment before any work starts.
Much attention is being given to the rights and needs of indigenous tribes, as well as the need for well paying jobs. For the Humboldt site, new transmission lines will be needed which may need to go through tribal areas. An additional concern is to make sure that the tribal communities receive a fair share of the electricity and not be by-passed. For the Morro Bay area, the transmission lines already connected to the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will be used. The wind power will be coming on line as the nuclear plant is shut down. The Morro Bay area is between two National Marine Sanctuaries and NOAA is heavily involved. The sanctuaries will be fully preserved.
Wind turbine technology is advancing rapidly. The turbines currently planned will be over 1000-ft tall and will each produce 5-10 MW. The overall goal is to produce 5GW (5000MW) by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. Currently, California uses around 200 GW but this is rapidly increasing as we electrify, so the need for rapid expansion of green electrical capacity is pivotal.
Meanwhile climate change is clearly accelerating. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to move rapidly away from all fossil fuels, including so-called natural gas, which is mostly methane, with 80x more warming effect than CO2. Supporting offshore wind will help this effort.
References
Slide show with lots of detailed graphics
Recent article by Heidi Harmon former mayor of San Luis Obispo
California energy planning details
Upcoming conference in Sacramento