US Renewable Energy

The first off-shore wind farm in the US is set to start generating power in November, exactly eight years after Barack Obama was elected pledging to fight climate change. It’s a symbolic milestone in the move towards clean energy in the Block Island wind. With five turbines, each twice the size of the Statue of Liberty, are undergoing final testing. When up and running, they’ll send power to 17,000 homes on Block Island itself, and across New England. Many of the components for this first US offshore project had to come from Europe, but the company behind them says American manufacturers will soon catch up. Wind farms like the one at Block Island could put America on track to become a ‘clean energy superpower’. Onshore wind power already accounts for nearly 5 percent of US electricity, and the industry is growing quickly.