Maryland is considering using offshore wind farms to generate electricity after discovering the renewable energy source could create enough energy to meet the state's annual electricity consumption.

The recent study showing Maryland's green energy capacity was published by researchers at the University of Delaware, who stated the potential power output is almost double the current energy demands for the state.

Maryland law requires at least 18 percent of electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2022.

"Installing wind turbines far off the coast of Maryland would help the state generate large quantities of electricity while creating local jobs," said study co-author Willett Kempton, professor of marine policy in UD's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. "Producing more electricity this way also displaces fossil fuel generation, thus reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions and improving air quality."

Windpower is expected to be a topic of discussion at Maryland's next legislative session this year, in light of the study's statistics that 7,800 wind turbines could provide an annual average output of 14,000 megawatts.

Maryland's Energy Administration also recently announced plans to give $1,000 grants for homeowners installing solar panels.