Blue Energy

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Blue Energy: Powering the Planet with our Ocean

Our ocean, with its continuous movement of surface winds, tides, and currents, as well as differences in salinity and temperature, offers a naturally abundant source of energy that can be harnessed to generate power. In a time when the continued use of fossil fuels is leading to adverse impacts on our environment, marine resources and human health, a shift toward reliable, renewable energy has never been more crucial. Our coastlines have great potential for generating marine renewable power, and the Northwestern Coast of the U.S. is notably one of only a few areas in the world with abundant available resources for wave and other ocean power development. While just a few Marine Renewable Energy projects exist currently, the technology is advancing rapidly, and the field is providing clean energy career opportunities for tomorrow’s ocean leaders.

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Webinar Series

View the NOSB’s marine renewable energy themed Professional Development Webinar Series recordings to learn more about evaluating potential environmental effects, engaging stakeholders in renewable energy projects, and the technology research and development efforts required to develop a commercial marine hydrokinetic system.

2017 Professional Development Webinars: Ms. Kaety Jacobson

February 2, 2017|

We’ve likely all heard a story of stakeholders being against a project. These stories often get condensed down into quick explanations such as “They are NIMBY’s” (Not in My Backyard). These quick explanations often lack the contextual understanding of when and how these stakeholders were engaged in the process, and the quality of that engagement. How we communicate science and the methods we use to identify and engage stakeholders are often what most influences the results of the process, not the feelings or sentiment of each side. What is outreach? What is engagement? And why are they vital to the health of our oceans and coastal communities? These are just a few of the questions this presentation will go into.

2017 Professional Development Webinars: Dr. Sarah Henkel

January 30, 2017|

Dr. Henkel will give a brief primer on the types of offshore renewable energy devices that are being considered for the US West Coast then discuss potential environmental effects and how researchers determine which are most applicable to certain habitats/locations. She will close with some examples of research OSU is conducting to address those potential environmental effects. Some important take-aways from the presentation will be how few actual deployments have taken place in the US (so most of the issues really are hypothetical at this stage) and the difference between effects, which are unavoidable as they are defined as “change”, and impacts, which have a component of scale.

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