Trump has vowed to kill US offshore wind projects. Will he succeed?

[hunter]

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Opponents of offshore wind energy projects expect President-elect Donald Trump to kill an industry he has vowed to end on the first day he returns to the White House.

But it might not be that easy.

Many of the largest offshore wind companies put a brave face on the election results, pledging to work with Trump and Congress to build power projects and ignoring the incoming president’s oft-stated hostility to them.

In campaign appearances, Trump railed against offshore wind and promised to sign an executive order to block such projects.

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https://apnews.com/article/trump-offshore-wind-energy-4e5b18ecd4799cc4cfd8cd7dc7b326ee

I think Trump will be surprised when the fossil fuel industry doesn't back him up on this. These large wind projects allow the industry to promote natural gas as a "transitional fuel" even when it's not.

[FBaggins]

1. Probably easily

They have a history of killing themselves without his help (see Ocean Wind I and II).

And gas has no need to sell itself as "transitional" in a Trump administration that wants to dramatically expand exports of the stuff.

[hunter]

2. The fossil fuel industry needs the anti-nuclear activists on its side.

"Green" energy increases natural gas industry profits.

If the U.S.A. or Germany, for example, fully embraces nuclear power with all-electric housing, transportation systems, etc., then the fossil fuel industry AND the "green" energy industries take a tremendous hit.

France shut down its last coal mine more than twenty years ago. Germany did not do the same, promising to to replace its dirty coal fired electric grid with "green" energy and cheap Russian natural gas. We all know how that turned out...

[FBaggins]

3. That was all true until a week ago

Now? The administration's efforts to stop LNG export growth are dead and they open up markets currently paying 4-5 times what the US market pays.

[CoopersDad]

4. Trump vows a lot of things, most of it is bullshit.

I'm following a few wind and storage projects like those at Morro Bay, California.
I don't expect that it can follow through on many of it's threats.

[hunter]

5. I think it's shameful this area was excluded from the Chumash Marine Sanctuary.

This project will serve only to prolong California's dependence on natural gas and do absolutely nothing in the long run to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses humans end up dumping into earth's atmosphere before our fossil fueled civilization collapses.

Even a twin of the Vogtle 4 nuclear power plant would have a smaller environmental footprint and provide lower cost electricity than most hybrid gas / wind / battery power schemes.

The only way to quit fossil fuels is to quit fossil fuels. Wind projects are entirely dependent on natural gas and other fossil fuels for their economic viability. They cannot displace fossil fuels entirely, which is something we need to do.

The upcoming battle between Old Money / Russian billionaire oil and gas interests, and the billionaire tech-bros nuclear power enthusiasts is going to be interesting. Trump and Musk are going with the Old Money / Russian interests. Wind and solar are still working for them.

[CoopersDad]

6. The Morro Bay project is not dependent upon natural gas...

... except to the extent any renewable project is with natural gas being handed the "transition fuel" handle, which is hard to avoid.

The storage part of the Morro Bay project is what I love the most. I'm just a few miles from Moss Landing's BESS, the largest grid-scale battery in North America, IIRC, and it makes greater use of renewables possible, eating away and any excuses to stay any longer with natural gas than necessary.

[hunter]

7. If batteries were a viable solution and you have good solar exposure on your home...

... you could quit the electricity and gas grids right now. Cut them off at the service connection, take out those annoying gas and electric meters with a sledge hammer. Banks would lend you money to do it.

Have you?

The math on this one is the same at any scale.

The synergies we were promised were illusions.

At this moment East Denmark is at 361g CO₂eq / kWh

https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DK-DK2

Wind is a failure. Sort of like all those endless "carbon capture" schemes in its efficacy.

[Caribbeans]

8. Tell the UK

Wind is a failure.

Wind power in the United Kingdom

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_United_Kingdom

Wind is a failure.