A new study done by researchers from Stanford and University of Delaware claims that offshore wind turbines could be redesigned in such a way in order to prevent major hurricanes from ever forming in the first place. The idea basically inverts what wind turbines were originally designed for, which is to suck energy out of wind.

Computer tests mimicking the wind speeds of past major hurricanes showed that offshore wind turbines could have dissipated the storms before their winds even got up to destructive speeds. And since the turbines would have turned that wind into electricity, this could prove to benefit other hurricane defense strategies like sea walls. For more on how this may work, check out the simulation below:



Currently, there are exactly zero operating offshore wind farms in the United States, with most of the existing ones being located in northwestern Europe.

[Gizmodo]