Hi, what are you looking for?
Baking Potatoes & Powering an RV With Jackery’s Biggest Solar Generator Kit
Roasting Green Chile with the Power of the Sun
Helios Brewing Company — Sunshine in a Can With Solar
Big Hike In Natural Gas Prices Will Accelerate Change In Utility Industry
Lifecycle Emissions of EVs & CO2: Debunking TED Talk Video
Lloyd’s Register Gets Behind Wind Power For Cargo Ships
Somehow, SCOTUS Missed The Green Hydrogen Memo
Big Hike In Natural Gas Prices Will Accelerate Change In Utility Industry
The Race To Floating Offshore Wind Energy
Lifecycle Emissions of EVs & CO2: Debunking TED Talk Video
Geothermal: Tapping Into the Million-Year Energy Source Below Our Feet
We Can Have (Just About) Everything We Want For Energy & The Climate
Beyond Renewable Energy: Giant Thermoses & Wastewater On Tap
U.S. Mining & Geothermal Industries Could Strike G.O.L.D. Through Partnership
Baking Potatoes & Powering an RV With Jackery’s Biggest Solar Generator Kit
Northvolt Raises $1.1 Billion for More Battery Factories
Zenlabs Battery Cells to Power Lilium eVTOL Aircraft
Volkswagen Starts Construction On First Of 6 Battery Factories
LIVE — Volkswagen Group Launching European Battery Center & Battery Cell Factory
Can Virtual Power Plants Provide Revenue for Householders?
ERCOT & Tesla: How Virtual Power Plants Can Help Texas Electricity Grid & Save Lives
Energy Security at the Edge of the Grid
Texan Tesla Powerwall Owners Can Help Change ERCOT’s Mind On VPPs
Gridspertise — Advanced Digital Solutions For A Smart, Resilient Grid
Lloyd’s Register Gets Behind Wind Power For Cargo Ships
We Can Have (Just About) Everything We Want For Energy & The Climate
AutoGrid Recruits Army Of Heat Pumps For Virtual Power Plants
Hard, Round, Tiltable Sails Add Wind Power To Energy Efficient Shipping
University of Michigan Reveals “Aevum” Solar Racecar
GE Appliances & Oatly Add Electric Trucks from Einride
Converting This 1977 Porsche 911 To Electric Yields 600 BHP From Tesla Motor
Ford’s June Sales Numbers Impress Again
Could Iron-Based Catalysts Make Fuel Cells Viable?
Rivian Says It Is On Track To Deliver 25,000 Vehicles This Year
Baking Potatoes & Powering an RV With Jackery’s Biggest Solar Generator Kit
Germany Plugin EV Share Grows, Fiat 500e Bestseller, Grimm Warnings
Tested: LIVSN EcoTrex Pants, Reflex Shorts, & Women’s Trail Tights
We Did It, We Lost Access To Tesla Full Self Driving Beta!
Climate-Fiction Book Review: Ministry For The Future
Dutch BEV Market Up 82%, Fossil Fuel Vehicles Down 16%
UK Plugin EV Share At 22%, Tesla Model Y Overall Runner Up
France Plugin EV Growth Slows, But Still Rocking
Norway Grows EV Share — Tesla Model Y Bestseller
Sweden’s Plugin EV Share Grows In June — Tesla Model Y Overall Bestseller
Baking Potatoes & Powering an RV With Jackery’s Biggest Solar Generator Kit
Germany Plugin EV Share Grows, Fiat 500e Bestseller, Grimm Warnings
Tested: LIVSN EcoTrex Pants, Reflex Shorts, & Women’s Trail Tights
We Did It, We Lost Access To Tesla Full Self Driving Beta!
Climate-Fiction Book Review: Ministry For The Future
Tesla Q4 Shareholder Conference Call — Watch & Listen Here
Volkswagen Group — In-Depth Conference Call Highlights Company’s Focus On Transition
Bill McKibben On Unions, Tesla, & Elon Musk — CleanTechnica Interview
How To Watch & Listen To Tesla Q3 Earnings Call — Most Useful Livestream
Tesla Sales & Future of Tesla Discussion with Ride the Lightning, Starman, & EVANNEX
Harnessing the power of waves, tides, and currents could unlock the secrets to achieving greater energy security with minimal environmental impact. By some estimates, there are enough marine energy resources in the U.S. to meet a whopping 57 percent of the nation’s energy needs — supporting a clean energy future and creating new jobs. But how do we harness that power in an environmentally responsible way?
The cover of the special issue “Technology and Methods for Environmental Monitoring of Marine Renewable Energy” in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering features original art designed by Stephanie King, graphic design professional at PNNL. (Image by Stephanie King | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Reaping the full benefits of marine energy starts with understanding how the devices used to capture the power of the ocean affect sea creatures and the habitats they call home. Research from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Triton Initiative is advancing how the marine energy industry conducts environmental monitoring of marine energy devices. Through the Triton Field Trials, researchers evaluated monitoring technologies and methods to address the lack of industry standards for environmental monitoring of common environmental concerns and provide recommendations that can be used by the marine energy industry to chart a path toward low-impact solutions.
The Journal of Marine Science and Engineering recently dedicated an entire special issue to showcasing the latest research from the Triton Initiative. PNNL benthic ecologist Lenaig Hemery and earth scientist Joseph Haxel organized the ten publications in the issue to address multiple areas of interest in environmental monitoring of marine energy devices, including underwater noise, electromagnetic fields, collision risk, habitat change, and others.
“Together, these articles tell a comprehensive story about the future of marine energy,” Hemery explained, “Each of them focuses on a slightly different research question, but since they are being published in unison, they weave together a bigger picture.”
Researchers deploy hydrophones to measure underwater noise generated by a tidal turbine. (Photo by Jayson Martinez | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Of the possible environmental impacts that can result from the introduction of marine energy devices in coastal areas, sound is a major consideration. Many marine animals use sound to understand and navigate their underwater world. Marine energy devices may add to that soundscape, but is it enough noise to impact marine life in the area? Answering this question is key to developing and implementing low-impact marine energy technologies in the right locations.
In one publication in the special issue, PNNL researchers and collaborators at the University of New Hampshire and University of Washington used a hydrophone to measure the noise generated by a tidal turbine in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They found that turbine-related noise in this bustling port was less than ambient port sounds and concluded that this turbine’s noise was not likely to disturb the local wildlife.
This finding alone is positive news from an ocean stewardship perspective, but their work also demonstrated the efficacy of using an off-the-shelf hydrophone to monitor noise from marine energy devices.
“Proving the effectiveness of readily available, low-cost monitoring options like this hydrophone, coupled with the existing international guidance on acoustic characterization of marine energy converters, opens the door for more opportunities to gather critical, transferable data on acoustic emissions from marine energy devices in the United States,” said Haxel, lead author on this study.
The lack of industry standards for the collection of environmental data around marine energy installations has made it difficult to generalize the environmental effects from one device installation to another. Addressing this issue, a unifying theme of the special issue is the importance of transferable and consistent environmental monitoring methods that will support the development and installation of low-impact marine energy devices. The publications in the special issue share valuable results from field trials conducted by the Triton Initiative, reporting on new monitoring approaches and summarizing broader impacts related to the presence of energy devices in marine environments.
Researchers prepare a 360-degree underwater camera to monitor changes in habitat around the anchor of a wave energy converter. (Photo by Alicia Amerson | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
Raising the visibility of the latest marine energy research will have a ripple effect in the world of scientific practice and management. The publications in this special issue provide a valuable, multifaceted look at environmental monitoring techniques and approaches that will inform the development of future marine energy technologies, policies, and regulations.
“One of the main barriers for deploying marine energy right now is there simply haven’t been enough devices put in the water and tested,” Haxel stated. “Our mission with Triton is to help fill in the knowledge gaps that regulators have so we can arrive at a set of standardized techniques and equipment that promote transferability.”
Ultimately, ensuring the long-term impacts of marine energy devices are understood by regulators, policymakers, and the scientific community moves the needle of progress on our 21st century energy transition.
Research diver inspects a hydrophone lander deployed on the seafloor as part of ongoing research through the Triton Initiative to improve the environmental monitoring of marine energy devices. (Photo courtesy of Richard Walsh | Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
All articles are now available in the special issue, “Technology and Methods for Environmental Monitoring of Marine Renewable Energy.” The Triton Initiative is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office.
Article courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy’s, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, PNNL.
The mission of the U.S. Energy Department is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. Learn more.
#1 most loved electric vehicle, solar energy, and battery news & analysis site in the world. Support our work today!
Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.
Electrolyte additive leads to protective surface layer for nickel-rich cathodes, improving battery performance at high voltages Courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Written by Kelly Zegers...
As much as we love electric airplanes over here at CleanTechnica, zero emission flight at any significant scale is still years away. That’s why...
Event in Alaska to focus on driving energy technologies for a sustainable Arctic region Top scientists and officials from government, academia, Alaskan Native communities,...
Innovative separation technology may have broad industrial uses
Copyright © 2021 CleanTechnica. The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by and do not necessarily represent the views of CleanTechnica, its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.