Impacts of marine renewable energy

As carbon emissions continue to increase and the need for alternative energy technologies increases, the marine environment is considered to be important in providing viable solutions to the energy crisis. In situ tidal devices and offshore wind farms will not only have impacts upon the associated ecosystem, such as electrical disturbance, changes in currents, contamination from materials and habitat damage / restoration, but the marine environment will also affect them through issues such as biofouling, weather conditions and shipping.

 

PML has extensive expertise in assessing the effects of various installations in diverse and constantly changing environments. By taking an interdisciplinary approach, scientists can assess the environmental, physical, social and economic implications so that policy makers and marine planners can base their decisions on sound science.


Projects

  • Marine e-Data Observatory Network (MeDON)
    MeDON aims to develop, test and disseminate a new concept of coastal monitoring based on a network of innovative real-time cabled marine observatories, and is orientated towards end users. Cabled seafloor observatories are an emerging technology capable of providing an effective platform for real-time and high-resolution monitoring. 
  • ReDapt - Evaluation of antifouling systems for tidal and wave devices
    PML is a partner in this £1.1 billion initiative that is seeking to develop technologies specifically to combat climate change and to help meet the UK's challenging targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. PML's role is to investigate possible ways of reducing or managing biofoulants with a view to increasing the efficiency of wave energy devices.
  • UK Energy Research Council (UKERC)
    PML is leading the Environment and Energy theme of UKERC's sustainable energy programme. By exploiting synergies with existing environmental research, predictive modelling will be combined with methods for valuating ecosystem goods and services, such as food provision and climate regulation. The tools developed will ensure that environmental indicators can be considered alongside economic indicators in UK policy development.