Multifaceted effects of renewable energy devices on marine ecosystems analysed in new report.
A network funded by the N8 Research Partnership – the collective body for the North’s eight research intensive universities – has published a report looking into the environmental impacts of offshore renewable technologies on marine ecosystems and coastal communities.
Led by Dr Pablo Ouro from the University of Manchester (pictured), this work was produced by one of four research communities supported through the N8 Collabor8 Fund. This fund was established to mobilise proactive researcher-led communities of scale across the N8 and create a culture shift in collaborative working.
The report, entitled Environmental impacts from large-scale offshore renewable-energy deployment and published in Environmental Research Letters, was driven by the need to understand how the unprecedented scale of marine renewables being deployed to meet net zero targets can potentially affect coastal environments. This saw the research team investigate a wide variety of technologies, including the different types of offshore wind turbines as well as tidal stream energy, floating photovoltaic and wave energy systems.
Potential environmental impacts of these technologies were categorised into atmospheric, biological and hydrodynamic (concerning the seawater’s movement), with specific issues analysed ranging from precipitation, temperature and water quality, to cloud formation and sediment transport changes.
The research highlighted an array of considerations as to how these structures might affect their surroundings, from inadvertently fostering biodiversity by creating artificial reefs to how changes to the acoustic environment and undersea electromagnetic fields affect the marine ecosystem.
Alongside environmental concerns, the report noted the socioeconomic effects of the UK’s growing renewable energy sector. This included looking into positive outcomes, for example new employment opportunities in coastal areas, as well as potentially negative consequences, such as on the quality of produce available to the fishing industry.
In producing the research, the network engaged with major stakeholders in the energy sector and industry organisations to gather new evidence and insights. The project provided opportunities to support students across academic levels and provide opportunities to enhance key skills and employability within the green-energy sector.
Dr Pablo Ouro, Lead Researcher and Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow at The University of Manchester, said:
“Having a large-scale, offshore renewable energy network is central to meeting critical net zero targets, with the UK Government committed to deploying 90-120 GW of offshore wind by 2050. This will mean constructing wind farms, tidal stream arrays, and floating solar photovoltaic farms along our shorelines at an unprecedented scale over the next three decades.
“The activity required to achieve this is going to have an unavoidable impact on the environment it’s being built in. This report sought to develop a comprehensive understanding of these developments to ensure that the deployment of marine renewable energy solutions can be rolled out at pace with minimal environmental and societal risks.
“Balancing the need to advance sustainable energy generation with environmental, economic and social concerns is no easy feat. To help resolve this challenge, we analysed a broad spectrum of atmospheric, hydrodynamic, ecological and social issues. While further research is required in several areas, this report provides a valuable assessment of the impacts renewable energy infrastructure can have and how they can be mitigated moving forward.”
Funding awards from the N8 Collabor8 Fund were made in June 2022 and run until later this year. The funded communities were chosen for their potential to explore multi-institutional collaboration in areas that play to the strengths of the N8 universities and where the scale and complexity of the challenge requires an ambitious, pan-university approach.
The theme for the call was ‘The Road to 2050’, which encompasses both the technological and societal challenges associated with meeting net zero commitments.