OES-Environmental continues to collect, organize, and disseminate information on environmental effects of marine renewable energy (MRE), as well as pursuing processes for applying data and information to support consenting at new projects through risk retirement and data transferability processes. These efforts will continue in collaboration with experts from the other participating countries. In addition, four new areas will become the focus of future efforts, each of which is described in further detail:
- Use of the accumulated knowledge acquired on stressor-receptor interactions to advise on environmental acceptability;
- Examining potential environmental effects of off-grid MRE applications;
- Diving deeper into methods for collection and analysis of social and economic data that affect consenting; and
- Analyzing potential system-wide effects of MRE as the industry scales up.
This Short Science Summary was developed based on the OES-Environmental 2024 State of the Science Report: Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development Around the World, specifically Chapter 11: Summary and Path Forward.