Abstract
The MRE industry is moving from deploying single devices and demonstration projects toward multiple devices, while planning for large-scale commercial arrays to meet end-user needs for power. As the industry scales up, there is a need to understand what potential effects larger deployments might have on marine animals, habitats, or ecosystem processes. However, almost all the knowledge about environmental effects to date has been gleaned from single devices or small arrays (up to six devices). Chapter 9 looks at strategies for increasing this knowledge from single devices to arrays, determining that different stressor-receptor interactions are likely to scale in different ways. In addition, ecosystem models that simulate changes to marine trophic networks from natural and anthropogenic factors have not taken into account potential effects of MRE development; changes to the most common ecosystem models that account for other uses such as fisheries, are suggested in order to include effects of MRE. Finally, this chapter examines cumulative effects of MRE development on the marine environment, in conjunction with other anthropogenic uses of the ocean, and provides strategies for examining these effects in a holistic approach.
The 2024 State of the Science Report consists of 11 chapters which can be downloaded as a whole or individually. Download Chapter 9: Beyond Single Marine Renewable Energy Devices: A Systems-Wide Effects Approach here.