Jones Beene wrote:
1) *Offshore* windfarms are highly preferable -stronger and more reliable wind . . .
Yes. That is why the human race used to move megatons of goods and people across the oceans on sailing ships, up until 1900 or so. People who think that wind power is negligible should look at photo of the warfs of New York or London in the mid-19th century. From 1846 to 1854, wind power carried 2 million people from Ireland to the US -- about a quarter of the Irish population. This is probably in the same range as jet aircraft carry from Ireland to the U.S. today.
2) Floating windfarms make more sense than permanent mooring.
I never thought of that. But how would you anchor them? It would take immensely strong anchors to prevent something like this from sailing off. Full rigged clipper ships at sea were by far the most powerful machines prior to 1860, with megawatts of motive power. A floating wind power vessel would be the equivalent of a container ship, which has an ~85 MW engine. How could you anchor such a thing?
Perhaps you could sink it the way the WWII "mulberries" were sunk during the invasion of Normandy
By the way, there are serious proposals for wind power augmentation for container ships. It is an ideal application.
- Jed
