International Conference on the Environmental Interactions of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies

- Marine renewables are at a crucial stage in their development, moving from the early proof of concept stage toward commercialisation, but still with a long way to go;
- Regulatory frameworks will be crucial in this transition as developers require certainty and stability to further develop their technologies and attract investment;
- Marine Spatial Planning and Strategic Environmental Assessment are likely to be important elements of these future regulatory frameworks, though these are as yet underdeveloped concepts, particularly in relation to marine renewables;
- While research is still in its early stages, the preliminary results of a range of studies suggests that the environmental impacts of marine renewables are likely to be relatively benign.

- [Dr. Scott Couch](http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/scott-couch(80d6945c-3463-4d30-a143-6402560a40f7).html) from the [University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Energy Systems](http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/research/IES/research/marine.html) introduced the conference and gave a comprehensive overview of the state of the industry. Dr. Couch noted that marine renewables are at a crucial stage of their development, moving beyond the initial stages, but still quite far from commercialisation. Marine renewables are now gaining some strong commercial interest, with companies such as Rolls Royce making investments. In the short term the industry must focus on consolidating technology design and attracting finance, while in the longer term the focus should be on ensuring that development is driven by commercial merit and investing in infrastructure. The industry must be careful not to oversell and under-deliver, while academia needs to identify and fill remaining knowledge gaps.
- [Dr. Sarah Henkel](http://people.oregonstate.edu/~henkels/HenkelSK/Henkel.html) from the [Northwest Marine Renewable Energy Centre](http://nnmrec.oregonstate.edu/) at Oregon State University called for prioritising which potential environmental interactions to investigate and develop baseline data. Dr. Henkel and her team are investigating the effect of static devices on marine organisms, including cetaceans, noise and vibration and electromagnetic radiation. Dr. Henkel made the point that scaling up this research to array-scale will be challenging.
- [Paul Thompson](http://www.abdn.ac.uk/biologicalsci/staff/details/lighthouse) of the University of Aberdeen summarised the myriad of monitoring methods for assessing the interactions of marine renewables. Establishing adequate baseline data is costly and time consuming. Again it was noted that we already have a lot of relevant data and information, and the focus should now be on identifying knowledge gaps.
- [Catherine Mitchell](http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Catherine_Mitchell) from the [University of Exeter's Energy Policy Group](http://geography.exeter.ac.uk/research/groups/energypolicy/) discussed marine renewables in the context of UK energy policy, arguing that marine renewables, and other renewable energy technologies, would not predominate in the absence of a broader shift in government policy away from fossil fuels and nuclear. Catherine stated that reforming and streamlining regulatory processes would be a crucial part of this.
- [Dr. Ian Davies](http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/science/Research/Researchers/ianmdavies) outlined the process undertaken by Marine Scotland to implement Marine Spatial Planning (MSP). MSP seeks to move away from single sector management of our oceans and instead holistically plan, thus aiming to lessen conflicting human uses and cumulative environmental impacts.
- [Coastal & Marine Research Centre](>Dr. Anne Marie O’Hagan from the <a href=) noted that MSP represents the shift to a new governance paradigm, though there is not yet an overarching European Directive on MSP as yet. She noted that the commercial-scale development of marine renewables will require a large amount of ocean space, increasing the need for MSP to manage conflicting uses and environmental impacts. Importantly, Dr. O’Hagan again stated that developers and investors require stable and predictable regulatory frameworks.
- [Dr. Kate Johnson](http://www.icit.hw.ac.uk/ICIT_staff.htm#katej) from the [International Centre for Island Technology](http://www.icit.hw.ac.uk/index.htm) at Herriot-Watt University continued the MSP theme, setting out some of the key tensions in Europe’s marine legislation and policy. In particular Dr. Watson noted the blurry nature of regulation in the coastal zone.
- Frank Fortune from [Royal Haskoning](http://www.royalhaskoning.co.uk/) suggested that developers should frame the potential interactions of marine renewables broadly in consenting applications (the ‘Rochdale Envelope’) as knowledge is currently limited and there is a need to avoid high-profile failures in terms of environmental impacts.
- [Dr. John Huckerby](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Xv4Ig8Sr628J:www.mfe.govt.nz/rma/central/nps/hearing-proceeding/43.1-awatea-information.pdf+Dr.+John+Huckerby&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk), Chair of the Executive Committee of the [International Energy Agency's Ocean Energy Systems Implementing Agreement](http://www.ocean-energy-systems.org/) set out an [international vision for ocean energy](http://www.ocean-energy-systems.org/.../14015_brochure_v18_final.pdf/), outlining the excellent work of the OES-IA in setting a policy roadmap for marine renewables.
- [Daniel Wood](http://www.linkedin.com/pub/daniel-wood/6/235/510) from the [Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science](http://www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/) gave a fascinating talk on how engineers can design devices at the outset to ensure minimal environmental impacts. Mr. Wood was yet another speaker to note the importance of suitable regulatory frameworks, even saying that one developer had been bankrupted due to the cost of obtaining the required environmental studies and consents.
- [Dr. Graham Daborn](http://acer.acadiau.ca/dr-graham-daborn-research-associate.html) from Acadia University spoke about tidal energy development in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada. Dr. Daborn argued that Strategic Environmental Assessment is a key tool for facilitating the development of marine renewables, and that adaptive management should be utilised as the potential environmental interactions of marine renewables cannot be known with complete certainty until they have been deployed.