Marine Biofouling: A European Database for the Marine Renewable Energy Sector

Biofouling is a major problem shared among all maritime sectors employing submerged structures where it leads to substantially increased costs and lowered operational lifespans if poorly addressed. Insight into the ongoing processes at the relevant marine locations is key to effective management of biofouling. Of specific concern for the marine renewable energy (MRE) sector is the fact that information on biofouling composition and magnitude across geographies is dispersed throughout published papers and consulting reports. To enable rapid access to relevant key biofouling events the present work describes a European biofouling database to support the MRE sector and other maritime industries. The database compiles in one document qualitative and quantitative data for challenging biofouling groups, including non-native species associated with MRE and related marine equipment, in different European Ecoregions. It provides information on the occurrence of fouling species and data on key biofouling parameters, such as biofouling thickness and weight. The database aims to aid the MRE sector and offshore industries in understanding which biofouling communities their devices are more susceptible to at a given site, to facilitate informed decisions. In addition, the biofouling mapping is useful for the development of biosecurity risk management plans as well as academic research.

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Benthic effects of offshore renewables: identification of knowledge gaps and urgently needed research

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsz018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 1092-1108 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jennifer Dannheim ◽

Lena Bergström ◽

Silvana N R Birchenough ◽

Radosław Brzana ◽

Arjen R Boon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Native Species ◽

Ecological Modelling ◽

Research Needs ◽

Knowledge Gaps ◽

Cascading Effects ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Set Up ◽

Ecological Functioning

Abstract As the EU's commitment to renewable energy is projected to grow to 20% of energy generation by 2020, the use of marine renewable energy from wind, wave and tidal resources is increasing. This literature review (233 studies) (i) summarizes knowledge on how marine renewable energy devices affect benthic environments, (ii) explains how these effects could alter ecosystem processes that support major ecosystem services and (iii) provides an approach to determine urgent research needs. Conceptual diagrams were set up to structure hypothesized cause-effect relationships (i.e. paths). Paths were scored for (i) temporal and spatial scale of the effect, (ii) benthic sensitivity to these effects, (iii) the effect consistency and iv) scoring confidence, and consecutively ranked. This approach identified prominent knowledge gaps and research needs about (a) hydrodynamic changes possibly resulting in altered primary production with potential consequences for filter feeders, (b) the introduction and range expansion of non-native species (through stepping stone effects) and, (c) noise and vibration effects on benthic organisms. Our results further provide evidence that benthic sensitivity to offshore renewable effects is higher than previously indicated. Knowledge on changes of ecological functioning through cascading effects is limited and requires distinct hypothesis-driven research combined with integrative ecological modelling.

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Powering the Blue Economy: Exploring Opportunities for Marine Renewable Energy in Various Maritime and Distributed Markets

10.2172/1525367 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Not Given Author

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Blue Economy

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A Study on the Characteristics of Academic Topics Related to Renewable Energy Using the Structural Topic Modeling and the Weak Signal Concept

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14051497 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (5) ◽

pp. 1497

Author(s):

Chankook Park ◽

Minkyu Kim

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Storage ◽

Topic Modeling ◽

Academic Research ◽

High Rate ◽

Weak Signals ◽

Energy Potential ◽

Rate Of Increase ◽

Probabilistic Topic Modeling ◽

To Receive

It is important to examine in detail how the distribution of academic research topics related to renewable energy is structured and which topics are likely to receive new attention in the future in order for scientists to contribute to the development of renewable energy. This study uses an advanced probabilistic topic modeling to statistically examine the temporal changes of renewable energy topics by using academic abstracts from 2010–2019 and explores the properties of the topics from the perspective of future signs such as weak signals. As a result, in strong signals, methods for optimally integrating renewable energy into the power grid are paid great attention. In weak signals, interest in large-capacity energy storage systems such as hydrogen, supercapacitors, and compressed air energy storage showed a high rate of increase. In not-strong-but-well-known signals, comprehensive topics have been included, such as renewable energy potential, barriers, and policies. The approach of this study is applicable not only to renewable energy but also to other subjects.

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A Decision Support Tool for Long-Term Planning of Marine Operations in Ocean Energy Projects

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse9080810 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 810

Author(s):

Francisco X. Correia da Fonseca ◽

Luís Amaral ◽

Paulo Chainho

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Decision Support ◽

Decision Support Tool ◽

Ocean Energy ◽

Support Tool ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Marine Energy ◽

Energy Projects ◽

Selection Algorithms ◽

Maritime Infrastructure

Ocean energy is a relevant source of clean renewable energy, and as it is still facing challenges related to its above grid-parity costs, tariffs intended to support in a structured and coherent way are of great relevance and potential impact. The logistics and marine operations required for installing and maintaining these systems are major cost drivers of marine renewable energy projects. Planning the logistics of marine energy projects is a highly complex and intertwined process, and to date, limited advances have been made in the development of decision support tools suitable for ocean energy farm design. The present paper describes the methodology of a novel, opensource, logistic and marine operation planning tool, integrated within DTOceanPlus suite of design tools, and responsible for producing logistic solutions comprised of optimal selections of vessels, port terminals, equipment, as well as operation plans, for ocean energy projects. Infrastructure selection logistic functions were developed to select vessels, ports, and equipment for specific projects. A statistical weather window model was developed to estimate operation delays due to weather. A vessel charter rate modeling approach, based on an in-house vessel database and industry experience, is described in detail. The overall operation assumptions and underlying operating principles of the statistical weather window model, maritime infrastructure selection algorithms, and cost modeling strategies are presented. Tests performed for a case study based a theoretical floating wave energy converter produced results in good agreement with reality.

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Optimising the Operation of Tidal Range Schemes

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12152870 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (15) ◽

pp. 2870 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jingjing Xue ◽

Reza Ahmadian ◽

Roger Falconer

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Maximum Energy ◽

Energy Output ◽

Tidal Range ◽

Marine Renewable Energy ◽

Modelling Methodology ◽

Similar Operation ◽

Swansea Bay ◽

The Uk

Marine renewable energy, including tidal renewable energy, is one of the less exploited sources of energy that could contribute to energy demand, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Amongst several proposals to build tidal range structure (TRS), a tidal lagoon has been proposed for construction in Swansea Bay, in the South West of the UK, but this scheme was recently rejected by the UK government due to the high electricity costs. This decision makes the optimisation of such schemes more important for the future. This study proposes various novel approaches by breaking the operation into small components to optimise the operation of TRS using a widely used 0-D modelling methodology. The approach results in a minimum 10% increase in energy output, without the inclusion of pumping, in comparison to the maximum energy output using a similar operation for all tides. This increase in energy will be approximately 25% more when pumping is included. The optimised operation schemes are used to simulate the lagoon operation using a 2-D model and the differences between the results are highlighted.

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Strategic priorities for assessing ecological impacts of marine renewable energy devices in the Pentland Firth (Scotland, UK)

Marine Policy ◽

10.1016/j.marpol.2008.12.013 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

pp. 635-642 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Mark A. Shields ◽

Lora Jane Dillon ◽

David K. Woolf ◽

Alex T. Ford

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Energy Devices ◽

Marine Renewable Energy

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A Theoretical Insight into the Curing Mechanism of Phthalonitrile Resins Promoted by Aromatic Amines

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics ◽

10.1039/d1cp01947c ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zuowei Chen ◽

Liquan Wang ◽

Jiaping Lin ◽

Lei Du

Keyword(s):

High Temperature ◽

Aromatic Amines ◽

Academic Research ◽

Engineering Applications ◽

Wide Range ◽

Curing Mechanism ◽

Theoretical Insight ◽

Insight Into

High-temperature phthalonitrile resins have a wide range of applications, and understanding their curing mechanism is of great importance for academic research and engineering applications. However, the actual curing mechanism is...

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