To date, the focus on evaluating environmental effects has been on interactions of small numbers of marine renewable energy (MRE) devices (1-6) with the environment, including collision of animals with turbine blades, underwater sound and electromagnetic field emissions, habitat alteration, and changes in oceanographic processes. As the industry moves toward deployments of large numbers of devices (arrays), there is a need to examine potential environmental and ecological effects of MRE at a systems-wide scale. This examination includes: 1) scaling the understanding of environmental effects from single devices to arrays; 2) applying an ecosystem approach to the integrated management of MRE; and 3) assessing the cumulative effects of MRE with other human-caused activities.
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 9: Beyond Single Marine Renewable Energy Devices: A Systems-Wide Effects Approach.