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July 23, 2008

Maine's offshore wind could help fuel nation

By The Mainebiz News Staff

Wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine could generate 10% of the nation's electricity needs, a University of Maine researcher told Congress yesterday.

Habib Dagher, director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory at UMaine, told the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that there are 100 gigawatts of wind energy potential in the Gulf of Maine, according to the Bangor Daily News. Using 5% of that power could provide electricity to all of the homes in Maine.

Dagher testified after Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, who proposes meeting the nation's electricity needs by wind energy generated in the Midwest. Dagher instead proposes locating wind turbines in waters off the east and west coasts and in the Great Lakes, located 20 miles from shore and invisible from land, the paper reported.

Researchers at Dagher's UMaine lab are examining the feasibility of installing wind turbines capable of generating five gigawatts of electricity in the Gulf of Maine by 2020, and are working with businesses including the Ocean Energy Institute to find funding.

 

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