Marine Energy general

Marine Renewable Energy

Marine renewable energy (MRE), also known as marine and hydrokinetic energy (MHK), is a broad term for various ways to harness electricity from water. Movement of water occurs naturally in the ocean and rivers, in the form of waves, tides, and currents. This movement can be captured with a variety of devices and converted to electricity that is exported to shore with transmission lines. There are also technologies that utilize the difference in temperature or salinity between water depths to generate electricity. Tethys categorizes the industry of offshore wind separately. The technologies can be classified in the following categories:

• Ocean Current
• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
• Riverine
• Salinity Gradient
• Tidal
• Wave

Environmental concerns vary greatly based on device design and the location. Some of the primary concerns are animal collisions with turbine blades, impacts from underwater noise, and changes to the physical system from large arrays.

_{Photo Credit: Sea Generation Ltd, Pelamis Wave Power, Ocean Power Technologies, Atlantis Resources Ltd, Carnegie Wave Energy Ltd}