SG-RENEWABLE-ENERGY Archives

SG Renewable Energy

SG-RENEWABLE-ENERGY@LISTS.MAINE.EDU

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show HTML Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Michelle Carnevale <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
SG Renewable Energy <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:55:40 -0400
Content-Type:
multipart/alternative
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (4 kB) , text/html (6 kB)
Hi Everyone-

I thought the Sea Grant Renewable Energy listserv might be interested in 
this report we recently completed for the Bureau of Ocean Energy 
Management on how to develop a monitoring plan for offshore renewable 
energy projects (see press release and web link below) .

Best,
Michelle

-- 
Michelle Carnevale
Project Manager, Coastal Resources Center
Extension Specialist, Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
Graduate School of Oceanography, The University of Rhode Island
Office: 401-874-6493   Web: www.crc.uri.edu & seagrant.gso.uri.edu


    University of Rhode Island helps develop national environmental
    monitoring tools for offshore renewable energy development

Any type of offshore development has the potential to impact the marine 
environment in some way. Unlike with oil platforms that have long been 
established in U.S. waters, there is much less certainty about how 
offshore renewable energy technologies such as wind and tidal power will 
affect the ecosystems in which they are developed.

Several federal entities collaborated to fund a National Oceanographic 
Partnership Program (NOPP) project to identify potential environmental 
effects that developers should monitor for, as well as techniques for 
how to do so.

Recognizing that each proposed development and each ecosystem is unique, 
the University of Rhode Island designed monitoring programs that can be 
tailored to each development project for both during development and 
post-construction. Researchers generated a "decision tree" to help guide 
regulators in designing monitoring requirements depending on the 
specifications of the project and its location.

Applied Science Associates, Inc., one of the project partners, also 
developed software that provides regulators with a tool to help analyze 
the cumulative environmental impacts of a proposed project. Regulators 
input the data they have on the distribution of natural resources or 
human activities (for instance, sea turtle and whale feeding areas, or 
fish habitat) in an area where a project is being proposed, and the 
software helps regulators compare and choose which site may potentially 
have less of an environmental impact.

These monitoring tools and techniques were completed and delivered to 
the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which oversees 
offshore renewable energy development, in late 2012, and are helping to 
inform the development of national standards for this emerging industry.

"Companies want to understand how to most efficiently and effectively 
meet BOEM's environmental data requirements. BOEM is now better 
positioned to answer that question," said Maureen Bornholdt, program 
manager for BOEM's Office of Renewable Energy Programs. "As a result of 
this project, BOEM is developing guidelines that clarify the information 
that BOEM and other federal agencies require to adequately address the 
impacts of offshore renewable energy projects to the environment."ÂEURÂ?

To learn more about this project or to download the final report, visit 
*http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coast/nopp.html*.

This project was funded by BOEM, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the 
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The University of 
Rhode Island, through its Graduate School of Oceanography, Department of 
Ocean Engineering, Coastal Resources Center, Rhode Island Sea Grant, and 
the College of Environmental and Life Sciences, led the project. The 
R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and Rhode Island-based Applied 
Science Associates, Inc. served as major partners for this effort. NOPP 
is a collaboration of federal agencies to provide leadership and 
coordination of national oceanographic research and education initiatives.


On 4/10/2013 12:27 PM, Christopher Bartlett wrote:
> Ocean Renewable Power Company has publicly posted their 2012 
> Environmental Monitoring Report to FERC on their website.  The 
> document provides a good overview of the company's installation of 
> their first tidal power system in Maine and the accompanying 
> environmental monitoring programs for marine mammals, seabirds, 
> fishes, etc.
>
> The full report can be seen here:
>
> http://www.orpc.co/permitting_doc/environmentalreport_Mar2013.pdf
>
> Chris
>
> -- 
> Christopher Bartlett
> Maine Sea Grant/University of Maine Cooperative Extension
> 16 Deep Cove Road
> Eastport, Maine  04631
>
> 207 214-7061 cell
> 207 853-2518 ext 105 office
> 207 853-0940 fax
> [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> Chris Bartlett is a member of The University of Maine Marine Extension 
> Team (MET). The MET is a collaboration of Maine Sea Grant 
> and University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Its members live and 
> work along the coast, providing educational and applied 
> research programs to Maine's citizens in the areas of coastal 
> community development, ecosystem health, fisheries, aquaculture, and 
> tourism.



ATOM RSS1 RSS2