Assessment Of Marine And Hydrokinetic Energy Technology

Increasing renewable energy development, both within the United States and abroad, has rekindled interest in the potential for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) resources to contribute to electricity generation. These resources derive from ocean tides, waves, and currents; temperature gradients in the ocean; and free-flowing rivers and streams. One measure of the interest in the possible use of these resources for electricity generation is the increasing number of permits that have been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As of December 2012, FERC had issued 4 licenses and 84 preliminary permits, up from virtually zero a decade ago. However, most of these permits are for developments along the Mississippi River, and the actual benefit realized from all MHK resources is extremely small. The first U.S. commercial gridconnected project, a tidal project in Maine with a capacity of less than 1 megawatt (MW), is currently delivering a fraction of that power to the grid and is due to be fully installed in 2013. As part of its assessment of MHK resources, DOE asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide detailed evaluations. In response, the NRC formed the Committee on Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Technology Assessment. As directed in its statement of task (SOT), the committee first developed an interim report, released in June 2011, which focused on the wave and tidal resource assessments (Appendix B). The current report contains the committee's evaluation of all five of the DOE resource categories as well as the committee's comments on the overall MHK resource assessment process. This summary focuses on the committee's overarching findings and conclusions regarding a conceptual framework for developing the resource assessments, the aggregation of results into a single number, and the consistency across and coordination between the individual resource assessments. Critiques of the individual resource assessment, further discussion of the practical MHK resource base, and overarching conclusions and recommendations are explained in An Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy's Marine and Hydrokinetic Resource Assessment.

Marine and hydrokinetic energy technology: finding the path to commercialization : hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, December 3, 2009.

Marine and hydrokinetic energy technology: finding the path to commercialization: hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, December 3, 2009.

This book contains the suite of protocols for the equitable evaluation of marine energy converters (based on either tidal or wave energy) produced by the EquiMar consortium led by the University of Edinburgh. These protocols aim to harmonise testing and evaluation procedures across the wide variety of devices presently available with the aim of accelerating adoption though technology matching and improved understanding of the environmental and economic impacts associated with the deployment of arrays of devices. EquiMar will assess devices through a suite of protocols covering site selection, device engineering design, the scaling up of designs, the deployment of arrays of devices, the environmental impact, in terms of both biological & coastal processes, and economic issues. The series of protocols has been developed through a robust, auditable process and we hope they will provide a firm foundation for project developers, consenting agencies, project funders and technology developers to evaluate concepts.

Marine and hydrokinetic energy technology : finding the path to commercialization : hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, first session, December 3, 2009.

A comprehensive text covering all aspects of wave and tidal energy Wave and Tidal Energy provides a comprehensive and self-contained review of the developing marine renewable energy sector, drawing from the latest research and from the experience of device testing. The book has a twofold objective: to provide an overview of wave and tidal energy suitable for newcomers to the field and to serve as a reference text for advanced study and practice. Including detail on key issues such as resource characterisation, wave and tidal technology, power systems, numerical and physical modelling, environmental impact and policy. The book also includes an up-to-date review of developments worldwide and case studies of selected projects. Key features: A comprehensive and self-contained text covering all aspects of the multidisciplinary fields of wave and tidal energy. Draws upon the latest research in wave and tidal energy and the experience of leading practitioners in numerical and laboratory modelling. Regional developments worldwide are reviewed and representative projects are presented as case studies. Wave and Tidal Energy is an invaluable resource to a wide range of readers, from engineering students to technical managers and policymakers to postgraduate students and researchers.