MAESTRALE: The Implementation of Blue Energy in the Mediterranean Sea

Author(s):  
Javier Abanades ◽  
Juan Pablo Torregrosa

The project Maestrale is an European Project funded by the Interreg MED programme (2016–2019) that aims at establishing the basis for a Maritime Energy Deployment Strategy in the Mediterranean Sea. The project is formed by a consortium with partners around the South of Europe with the objective of determining a suite of pilot zones, which will become the pillars of future developments for the implementation of Blue Energy projects in the Mediterranean Sea. The present article presents the tasks to be conducted for the study of the area in the Spanish Mediterranean Arc: • Identification of recommendations and regulations • A benchmark of the technologies installed worldwide will be carried out in order to identify their degree of adaptability to the conditions of the Med Area • The analysis of the available resource: wind, wave and tidal • The study of the area and its features: bathymetry, land cover, protected areas, etc. • The identification of the stakeholders, as the project intends to strengthen cooperation between public authorities, research bodies, businesses and the civil society • The formation of clusters with the stakeholders, either at the national or trans-national level, to increase connections in order to promote knowledge and technological transfer and generate the critical mass and environmental conditions needed to improve innovation capacities and competitiveness The main outcomes of the project are the support of the future blue energy policies and concrete strategies for blue growth and a suite of pilot projects that will serve the purpose of raising awareness among local stakeholders, facilitating social acceptance, decreasing uncertainty and increasing feasibility of concrete interventions.

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Langeneck ◽  
Chris Englezou ◽  
Matteo Di Maggio ◽  
Alberto Castelli ◽  
Ferruccio Maltagliati

AbstractAphanius fasciatus is a small fish occurring in Mediterranean brackish environments. In Cyprus it is known from three localities separated by long stretches of coast. The genetic diversity of these populations was evaluated using fragments of two mitochondrial genes. A comparison with the other available data showed that Cyprus populations represent a distinct lineage. The other lineages are concentrated in a relatively small area between the Strait of Sicily and the Western Ionian Sea, while all other areas include a subset of these lineages, suggesting that the aforementioned area might have acted as a glacial refugium. Landlocked North-African populations diverge from all other populations, suggesting that they might have originated in the Late Pleistocene, during transgression events of the Mediterranean Sea in North-African inland water bodies. The genetic diversity of A. fasciatus varied across different Cyprus populations, with a pattern mirroring the degree of environmental degradation, which likely affected population genetic variability through demographic reductions. The three Cyprus populations showed genetic uniqueness, suggesting the need of population-based management practices; the low genetic diversity of two populations, and the number of threats affecting them, suggest that the species should be considered endangered at national level and deserves protection measures.


1999 ◽  
Vol 1999 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-147
Author(s):  
Eric Calonne ◽  
Christophe Rousseau

ABSTRACT To implement the national POLMAR Plan, the French maritime and terrestrial authorities organise yearly large oil spill exercises called “Antipol.” Antipol 97 was of a greater scale than any other operation conducted in the past 10 years in the Mediterranean sea. During the 2 days of the exercise, major spill response capabilities were deployed on the sea with ten ships, including French Navy ships, together with the 280,000-tons tanker Iseult, owned by TOTAL. In the air, were five planes, including one of OSRL's C 130s flown in from Southampton and an Italian reconnaissance plane, as well as five helicopters. Various response actions were conducted at sea and on the shoreline: evacuation of injured crew from the tanker, tanker towing, lightering operation, deployment of boom and recovery equipment, shoreline cleanup using FOST co-operative resources and strike team. In parallel a large crisis management exercise called “Totem 97,” supported by TOTAL and prepared and conducted by CEDRE (Centre for Documentation, Research, and Experimentation in the Field of Accidental Water Pollution), mobilised crisis management teams in Toulon, Paris, Marseilles, Nantes, and Brest. This major operation had a triple objective:To test the efficiency of the new POLMAR Plan, the TOTAL Group, and France Shipmanagement emergency plansTo update and improve the procedures laid down in those plansTo demonstrate the collective crisis management performance of the three key players: the public authorities, the ship operator and the oil company For added realism Totem 97 included a unit run by CEDRE, that simulated reactions from the media, lobby groups, and the general public.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Reyes ◽  
Eva Aguiar ◽  
Michele Bendoni ◽  
Maristella Berta ◽  
Carlo Brandini ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Mediterranean Sea is a prominent climate change hot spot, being their socio-economically vital coastal areas the most vulnerable targets for maritime safety, diverse met-ocean hazards and marine pollution. Providing an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution at wide coastal areas, High-frequency radars (HFRs) have been steadily gaining recognition as an effective land-based remote sensing technology for a continuous monitoring of the surface circulation, increasingly waves and occasionally winds. HFR measurements have boosted the thorough scientific knowledge of coastal processes, also fostering a broad range of applications, which has promoted their integration in the Coastal Ocean Observing Systems worldwide, with more than half of the European sites located in the Mediterranean coastal areas. In this work, we present a review of existing HFR data multidisciplinary science-based applications in the Mediterranean Sea, primarily focused on meeting end-users and science-driven requirements, addressing regional challenges in three main topics: i) maritime safety; ii) extreme hazards; iii) environmental transport process. Additionally, the HFR observing and monitoring regional capabilities in the Mediterranean region required to underpin the underlying science and the further development of applications are also analyzed. The outcome of this assessment has allowed us to finally provide a set of recommendations for the future improvement prospects to maximize the contribution in extending the science-based HFR products into societal relevant downstream services to support the blue growth in the Mediterranean coastal areas, helping to meet the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the EU’s Green Deal goals.


2015 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Pérez ◽  
ML Abarca ◽  
F Latif-Eugenín ◽  
R Beaz-Hidalgo ◽  
MJ Figueras ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Di Guardo

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