With energy consumption increasing worldwide, it is up to the human race to find alternative, environmentally friendly and sustainable energy resources. One of which is wind farming. There have been many debates on how exactly ‘environmentally friendly’ wind turbines are, and some will say that they visually spoil our stunning British countryside and seas. However no one can deny how impressive and imposing the turbines are when close up to them.
Building anything at sea poses a lot of challenges and risks, however with the new standard for ports and marine operations for offshore wind energy structures, the development of these farms will be significantly easier. The standard aims to address the safety, accessibility and development of offshore structures. Captain Charles H. Piersall, Chairman of ISO, says “The objective of these standards is to ensure port and marine operations are carried out within defined safety and reliability levels, no matter where they are in the world, providing confidence but not hindering innovation.”
Does this mean the future holds more wind farms….inevitably! Will we grow accustomed to the site of these giant steel trees…no doubt. Do we have to like them? Well, that is up to each individual. But with the Global Wind Energy Council stating that wind farms can meet Europe’s energy requirements seven times over, how can we not see the benefits?
23 June 2015