How an offshore wind boom in the US could boost ocean research

The US wants to use offshore wind farms to collect valuable data on climate change and ocean health. Renewable energy giant Ørsted recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), agreeing to help the agency gather data in US waters leased to the company. NOAA says the agreement “paves the way for similar data-sharing agreements with other developers.”

The Biden administration plans to dramatically expand the country’s offshore wind capacity. The US currently only has 42 megawatts of capacity from two relatively small projects on the East Coast. If the Biden administration makes good on its commitment to offshore wind development, that’ll grow this decade to 30,000 megawatts...

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