The OES-Environmental 2020 State of the Science Report: Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development Around the World builds on and serves as an update and a complement to the 2013 Final Report for Phase 1 of OES-Environmental and the 2016 State of the Science Report. Its content reflects the most current and pertinent published information about interactions of marine renewable energy (MRE) devices and associated infrastructure with the animals and habitats that make up the marine environment. It has been developed and reviewed by over 60 international experts and scientists from around the world as part of an ongoing effort supported by the OES collaboration that operates within the International Technology Cooperation Framework of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Some of the chapters in the 2020 State of the Science Report contained more information and technical details than could be accommodated in the main report. These materials appear as supplementary materials, which are linked within the 2020 State of the Science Report itself and available for download on the 2020 State of the Science Report Supplementary Materials page.
Chapter 12: Adaptive Management Related to Marine Renewable Energy describes the implementation of adaptive management (AM) in the MRE context, the application of AM at selected MRE development sites, and the use of AM in retiring risks associated with single devices. As the MRE industry is rapidly ramped up from single devices to commercial-scale deployments, developers and regulators will need evidence of the environmental effects of MRE to inform project development and consenting processes. Tools and practical approaches are needed to help with the sustainable development of the industry. AM, also referred to as learning by/while doing, enables projects to be deployed incrementally, despite uncertainty, in a way that prevents unacceptable harm to the marine environment.
The Chapter 12 Supplementary Material is an extended version of the chapter and provides more detailed information on the history of AM and additional examples of AM in practice.