Effects During Construction and Decommissioning

The United States faces the major dilemma of meeting energy demands while simultaneously reducing the environmental consequences of energy production. How we resolve this dilemma has implications for the nation’s economy, environment and energy security. One of the many methods proposed for addressing this challenge is using the wind resource available off the coast of the United States to generate electricity. The offshore wind resources in the coastal regions of the United States are vast and often located near heavily populated areas where electricity demand is high. Building wind turbines1 offshore presents many environmental, social, technical and economic challenges2. This issue brief focuses on the consequences — both positive and negative — that wind farms could have on the coastal environment of West Michigan.