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Scientists from the University of Delaware and Stanford University found wind power harnessed from the region could supply the energy needs of nine states from Massachusetts to North Carolina. They studied the wind over the Middle Atlantic Bight, the aquatic region from Cape Cod, Mass., to Cape Hatteras, N.C.
The potential power supply from offshore wind is an estimated 330 gigawatts of average electrical power, substantially exceeding the region’s current energy use of 185 gigawatts.
The scientists examined a number of factors, including wind patterns, wind-turbine technology and “exclusion zones,” to determine how many wind turbines potentially could be constructed and where they could be located.
By comparison, the researchers found the region’s oil and natural gas resources represent only one-tenth of the wind resource and could be exhausted in 20 years if fully developed. EC
