Hugo Neu Corporation Sustainability Seminar Series: Moving Forward with Marine Renewable Energy: …But What About the Environment and the People?

ABSTRACT

Marine energy – power derived from the movement and other attributes of ocean water – are being added to the renewable energy portfolio of many nations. Specific technologies are needed for each of the energy sources, including tidal, ocean currents, and large river turbines; wave energy converters; and plants that extract energy from thermal and salinity gradients.

As the first commercial-scale tidal arrays are established, more wave energy converters and run-of-river turbines are deployed, and interest renewed in ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), and salinity gradient power under consideration, we must ask whether we can generate power from the ocean, protect the environment, and accommodate other ocean users. Marine animals, habitats, and ecosystem processes are already under stress from climate change and other anthropogenic activities. And the oceans provide livelihoods, security, economic development, and a sense of place for coastal communities and nations. We understand many of the environmental risks of marine energy development and other uses of the ocean, and the research community is actively measuring and analyzing interactions with marine energy. With the release of the most recent compendium of findings by Ocean Energy Systems-Environmental in September 2024, we continue to gather and share these findings to support responsible, sustainable, and effective use of energy from the oceans. Offshore wind is not considered to be marine energy in the US; however, many of the environmental effects around marine energy have similarities to wind.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Andrea Copping is a senior researcher and advisor at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, one of the US Department of Energy’s national laboratories, and holds a faculty position at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on environmental effects from the development of wave and tidal energy and offshore wind installations, and the role that these effects play in technology development and project initiation. Using risk-based approaches, Dr. Copping leads a research team that integrates laboratory, field, and modeling measurements into a coherent body of evidence to support siting and permitting decisions. She mentors students and early career staff, ensuring that the next generation of scientific and policy professionals are versed in the importance of the ocean in our energy future.

Andrea holds a BSc in Marine Biology from McGill University in Canada and an MS and PhD in Biological Oceanography from the University of Washington. Although trained as a blue water oceanographer, Dr. Copping has spent her career working in coastal waters, examining interactions between human activities and the marine environment. Starting in 2009, Dr. Copping has focused on climate change-related research including responses of coastal watersheds to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns and particularly focusing on the science and technology development that can support the advance of ocean energy technologies, including marine and offshore wind. Over the last 15 years, Dr. Copping has lead OES-Environmental – an international project on environmental effects of marine energy development that shares environmental effects information to benefit from progress made around the world, under the IEA Ocean Energy Systems. She also leads the foundational research and development program for the use of small marine energy devices to power blue economy applications, as well as the lead for the US-based PRIMRE data and information system on marine energy. She leads the Marine Energy Technology Symposium that provides outlets for US-based marine energy research with an emphasis on students and early career researchers and serves as a board member and vice president for the Pan-American Marine Energy Conference (PAMEC). Dr. Copping serves as a Distinguished Faculty Fellow in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington, Associate Editor of Coastal Management Journal, and on the editorial board for International Marine Energy Journal.

Dr. Copping has a long history of serving on boards and commissions in organizational, strategic planning, and implementation roles in international professional societies, as well as international and national committees. She is the Vice President and US representative for the Pan-American Marine Energy Conference. Other positions include: the inaugural chair of the Northwest States Commission for the State of Washington; and chair of the British.

Zoom Link:

https://stevens.zoom.us/s/93320868101

Website:

https://www.stevens.edu/sustainability-seminar-series

Jointly Sponsored by:

HUGO NEU Corporation
WSP
Brown and Caldwell
H2M Architects and Engineers
Lozier Inc.
Dewberry
HDR

Contact:

Dr. Dibs Sarkar