I'm back for a few days, and cannot resist a temptation such as a scientific question/answer.

For more details, the corrosion process in work here is galvanic corrosion. All metals can be put on a scale of corrosion-readiness, with gold on top. When two metallic parts are electrically connected (as when both of them are inmersed in water), one of them will concentrate all the corrosion, while the other will remain protected.

The corrosion process itself consists in electrons flowing from the corroded part to the protected part, leaving ionized atoms getting away from the metal.

In marine applications, Zinc is used as easy-to-corrode metal, because it protects all metals usually employed in metallic contructions (steel alloys included).

In the image below, Copper is more corrosion-resistant than steel, so steel is corroded. But Steel is mechanically more resistant than copper, so the structure may weaken. The solution is to use sacrificail Zinc connection between both metals. It will protect both pipes, but will require periodic maintenance (easy: to replace the sacrificial Zinc part).

yes, it is the first prototype installed in water of the BARD 5MW turbine. I put up more pictures of their factories here: http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2009/3/12/114958/542

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

I don't think it is strange. I believe the fossil fuel industry is not so much ideological about renewables.
It is simply about maximizing profit. They really like it when (and are pushing for) their propaganda departments and politicians take an ideological approach to prolong the use of their existing infrastructure and monopolies in this field.
Especially as the stuff gets more and more expensive over time they try to squeeze as much as possible out of it. But in fact they are already heavily investing (and profiting) from renewables. They simply don't talk so much about it but of course they want to control the inevitable transition.
From my experience they use every technology available and have no reservation with green technology. I'm developing customer specific electronics and software for Li-battery management systems which are used in all kind of stuff that moves around: cars, buses, bikes, planes, inspection robots and AUVs. Although this is not exclusively "green" technology, it is somewhat related because of the hype of electric and hybrid cars and other projects (like Solar Impulse etc.). But of course the raw material industry uses the advantages of Li-Batteries for offshore prospection, pipeline inspection and the like.
I think they will use wind and solar energy to get the last drops of oil (and other resources) in a few decades, not for burning it up in cars or power plants but maybe for expensive drugs or otherwise difficult to produce plastics or other needed products.

I would use the old offshore oil and gas platforms to set up high voltage dc converters and the pipelines as protection pipes (or as the ground wire too) for the cables to the shore. Surrounding the platforms big offshore wind farms could be built then.
I'm pretty shure there are studies about that in the drawers of the fossil industry already.

Joerg.