Evaluation of the Potential Environmental Impacts from an Offshore Wind Energy Farm in the Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Following the desire to reduce the energy dependence from fossil fuels, plants supplied by renewable energy sources are spreading worldwide. Among the current technologies, a new frontier is represented by offshore wind energy, thanks to the possibility to increase the capacity factor, and consequently the income from the investment, and at the same time overcome the problem of finding places without environmental constrictions. In this context, some new projects are currently under investigation in Italy, proposing the installation of floating wind farms, due to the deep seabed. For this reason, this manuscript evaluates the potential impacts related to the construction of a new big offshore wind farm, located in the Mediterranean Sea. The LCA methodology is applied to the case study.