Meet Darragh

My name is Darragh Corcoran. Some of you reading might remember me from my multiple summer seasons spent living and working in Cape May over the last 6 years. You may have met me at Congress Hall or The Rusty Nail or even embarked on one of the Aqua Trails sunset kayak tours with me as your guide. And, if you don’t recall me from the above, I’m pleased to meet you in my latest role as Foreign Science Correspondent for the Cape Point Science Centre. 

You see, hospitality aside, I have spent the last number of years acquiring a Bachelor of Science in Applied Freshwater and Marine Biology, a Masters of Science in Conservation Behavior, and as of this July, a second Masters of Science in Global Environmental Economics.

Equipped with a new degree and vocation, what does a 26-year-old Irishman do next. I asked myself the same question until the opportunity for a PhD was presented. After applying, being offered, and accepting this opportunity I am proud to report I will be spending the next four years working with the University of Galway, the Irish Marine Institute, and the Central Statistics Office. The culmination of this work aims to better understand the economic value Ireland’s coastal ecosystems provide to the economy. Treating the environment and the services it provides as an asset to be protected and utilized for the future, not as a mine to be stripped today. This requires careful evaluation and presentation to the powers that be. This is my aim over the next 4 years.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting innumerable local people who have told me about Cape May’s past, present and future. This is particularly in the context of the environment and, pertinent to today, the Ørsted contract to construct wind-power farms all along the New Jersey coastline. 

Being from Ireland and having lived in Galway I am far from removed from the benefits and drawbacks of wind-power sites. Galway is host to numerous experiments and altercations surrounding the industry. This is including but not limited to Sceirde Rocks Windfarm, a proposed offshore wind project located off the Connemara coast in County Galway. Once completed, the Sceirde Rocks Windfarm aims to provide enough electricity to more than 350,000 homes. Overall, Ireland has 73 offshore wind farm projects in various stages and the aim is to have 5 Gigawatts of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 37 Gigawatts by 2050. To put that in perspective, the average nuclear reactor produces about 1 Gigawatt of energy in a year.

Compare this to Oersted’s plans to provide power to 500,000 homes and, in keeping with Executive Order #92, producing 7.5 Gigawatts by 2035 for the state of New Jersey. 98 total turbines and 7.5GW seems a manageable figure compared to 73 wind farms and 37 Gigawatts considering New Jerseys 9 million residents relative to Ireland’s 7 million (1.9 million in the North, 5.1 million in the Republic). Where I come in is in the evaluation of the cost benefit trade off and environmental impacts of such projects and others which require evaluation to determine the environmental cost or benefits. This column will be an ongoing discussion of these projects in the context of the New Jersey coast and the Irish coast. I hope to take what I learn over the course of my studies, apply it to both sides of the Atlantic and encourage stakeholder engagement as best as possible. 

Darragh Corcoran 

DarraghPCorcoran@gmail.com