Ocean energy is a new frontier in efforts to meet the world’s ever increasing need to develop renewable energy sources. Last week, Mark Powell over at Blogfish raised the question of whether or not we should consider ocean energy. Environmental Defense Fund confidently says yes. The question with ocean energy is not whether the technology should be developed, but how it should be developed.
The oceans are a huge source of renewable energy, and could produce up to 10 percent of current energy demand. Most areas of the country would benefit: we could see wave parks off Oregon and California, tidal turbines spinning in Maine, Alaska & Washington, and efforts to harness the Gulf Stream off Florida. Those same technologies could also produce dam-less hydropower along the Mississippi River.
But, there are still a lot of things we need to figure out – like what the potential environmental impacts are and how to regulate the industry to ensure public input and transparency. Also, developers will need to be granted licenses to test and perfect their technologies. In an effort to push that process forward, EDF last year assembled a working group of utilities, energy developers, environmentalists, academics and local governments.
Our vision was to work together to find a common path for the environmentally responsible development of ocean energy, and to avoid the litigation-driven battles that have so often hampered other new forms of renewable energy. If we are going to solve the climate crisis and create a clean energy future, we have to come up with positive, forward-looking solutions.