From left, Gary Gump, Tina Dolen and Christopher Burnett under the shadow of the Portsmouth Abbey wind turbine last night.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

NARRAGANSETT — The potential of harnessing energy off Rhode Island’s shores drew more than 200 people to the state’s first conference on wind power.

Scientists, environmentalists, business people and politicians mingled yesterday at the University of Rhode Island’s Bay Campus to learn more about the intricacies of wind power. The event was held by the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, the state Office of Energy Resources, and the Washington County Regional Planning Council.

The conference came a day after Governor Carcieri released a comprehensive wind study identifying one land and 10 offshore sites that would be ideal to place wind farms. Carcieri’s ultimate goal is to generate 15 percent of Rhode Island’s electricity from renewable energy in the next five years. The study found the projects could meet the state’s goal and cost $900 million to $1.9 billion.

The event was timed to provide context to the governor’s wind study, said conference organizer Eleftherios Pavlides, director of the Wind Power Rhode Island Project and an architecture professor at Roger Williams University. It was also intended to educate the public on the economic, environmental and public health benefits surrounding wind power, he said.

The lectures varied widely, with health studies on air pollution and studies comparing wind power with other forms of energy such as coal, oil and ethanol.

One notable speaker was Lennart Damsbo-Andersen, the former mayor of Nysted, Denmark, home to one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms.

The farm has 72 turbines, each 263 feet tall. The farm opened in 2003 and it is owned by DONG Energy and E.ON Sweden.

It initially concerned most residents, Damsbo-Andersen said. The main fear was the wind farm would scare away tourists and decrease property values.

Since the wind farm’s completion, however, it had a different effect. Nysted attracted droves of international tourists and the price of waterfront land soared. “At the end, they were proud about it,” he said.

The turbines, which are six miles offshore, are not loud and can be seen only on clear days. The only problem residents experienced were the bright lights used at night to warn aircraft of the turbines. That problem was addressed by dimming the lights, Damsbo-Andersen said.

Another interesting panel, proposing a wind “revolution,” came from Willett Kempton, an associate professor and senior policy scientist at the University of Delaware.

Kempton studied the potential energy offshore wind turbines could create along the East Coast. Kempton said wind from the Atlantic Ocean would be enough to meet the country’s power needs. He calculated that about 225,000 offshore wind turbines between Boston and North Carolina could produce enough energy to supply the entire country for a year, or roughly 450 gigawatts.

“Short presentation: there’s a lot of power out there,” he said.

The final results of a study on local support for wind turbines were also unveiled yesterday.

The phone survey, done last summer, asked 710 Bristol and Portsmouth residents their opinions on having a wind turbine near their residences and whether they would support building one in several local sites.

About 84 percent of the residents supported a wind turbine, 13 percent wanted more information, and only 1 percent opposed it. The study also showed the majority of residents approved putting up a turbine on several sites in both towns.

Several local energy and health experts also spoke, as well as visitors from the Harvard School of Public Health, Stanford University, the U.S. Energy Department and the American Wind Energy Association.

The event ended with a tour of the wind turbine at Portsmouth Abbey, the first large-scale turbine in Rhode Island.

Andrew Dzykewicz, the commissioner of the state’s Office of Energy Sources, lauded having people in diverse fields talk about wind power.

The next step for the state’s wind project is to organize a group of residents, environmentalists and politicians, among others, to evaluate the proposed sites and determine the best location to build a wind farm.

“Rhode Island was the first colony to declare its independence from foreign taxation, and we are taking our first steps today toward independence from foreign oil,” he said.

The conference was an “eye-opener” for Julie Sky, an eighth-grade teacher at Meadowbrook Waldorf School, in Richmond.

Sky enjoyed listening to Damsbo-Andersen’s discussion on the Nysted wind farm, and was surprised to learn that the biggest problem residents faced was excessive light at night. She was also impressed with a project by West Wind Energy, a private company that plans to transform old Texas oil-drilling platforms into wind farms.

Sky plans to teach her students about the importance of wind energy. The best part of the conference, she said, was “having the option to hear the cutting-edge, new idea that Rhode Island is doing something about [wind energy]. It’s wonderful.”

“From Local to Global: The Rhode Island Model for Harnessing Wind Power Worldwide” will continue tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information about the Wind Power Rhode Island Project, visit www.windri.org.

Michelle J. Lee is a Fellow with the Metcalf Institute of Marine and Environmental Reporting.

mlee@projo.com