Risk Retirement—Decreasing Uncertainty and Informing Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy Development
Coastal Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Seattle, WA 98019, USA
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J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(3), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8030172
Received: 1 February 2020 / Revised: 28 February 2020 / Accepted: 1 March 2020 / Published: 4 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wave and Tidal Energy Resource Characterization and Environment Interactions)
Marine renewable energy (MRE) is under development in many coastal nations, adding to the portfolio of low carbon energy sources that power national electricity grids as well as off-grid uses in isolated areas and at sea. Progress in establishing the MRE industry, largely wave and tidal energy, has been slowed in part due to uncertainty about environmental risks of these devices, including harm to marine animals and habitats, and the associated concerns of regulators and stakeholders. A process for risk retirement was developed to organize and apply knowledge in a strategic manner that considered whether specific environmental effects are likely to cause harm. The risk retirement process was tested against two key MRE stressors: effects of underwater noise from operational MRE devices on marine animals, and effects of electromagnetic fields from MRE electrical export cables on marine animals. The effects of installation of MRE devices were not accounted for in this analysis. Applying the risk retirement process could decrease the need for costly investigations of each potential effect at every new MRE project site and help move the industry beyond current barriers.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Copping, A.E.; Freeman, M.C.; Gorton, A.M.; Hemery, L.G. Risk Retirement—Decreasing Uncertainty and Informing Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy Development. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8, 172.
AMA Style
Copping AE, Freeman MC, Gorton AM, Hemery LG. Risk Retirement—Decreasing Uncertainty and Informing Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy Development. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2020; 8(3):172.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCopping, Andrea E.; Freeman, Mikaela C.; Gorton, Alicia M.; Hemery, Lenaïg G. 2020. "Risk Retirement—Decreasing Uncertainty and Informing Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy Development" J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 8, no. 3: 172.
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