Marine Renewable Energy Creation
Creation of new low-carbon energy sources from natural marine resources. Includes: 1) Offshore renewable energy development whereby energy is produced from natural marine resources that are constantly renewed or replaced (e.g., offshore wind energy development, ocean thermal energy conversion); and 2) Marine low or zero-emissions technologies to control carbon emissions from marine industries (e.g. zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies and fuels for maritime industry).
These types of interventions pose a range of risks and challenges. Resources exist to help identify and address these.
Useful resources
Morrison, T. H. el al. 2025. Governing novel climate interventions in rapidly changing oceans. Science 389:eadq0174
Abhinav, K. et al. 2020. Offshore multi-purpose platforms for a Blue Growth: A technological, environmental and socio-economic review. Science of the Total Environment 734: 138256.
Dwyer, J. & Bidwell, D. 2019. Chains of trust: Energy justice, public engagement, and the first offshore wind farm in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science 47: 166-176.
Cronin, Y. et al. 2021. Public perception of offshore wind farms in Ireland. Marine Policy 134: 104814.
IRENA. 2018. Nurturing offshore wind markets: Good practices for international standardisation. International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi.
Kirkegaard, J. K. et al. 2023. Tackling grand challenges in wind energy through a socio-technical perspective. Nature Energy 8(7): 655-664.
Rudolph, D. 2018. Community benefits from offshore renewables: The relationship between different understandings of impact, community, and benefit. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space 36: 92-117.
Schupp, M.F. et al. 2021. Fishing within offshore wind farms in the North Sea: Stakeholder perspectives for multi-use from Scotland and Germany. Journal of Environmental Management 279: 111762.
UN Global Compact. 2021. Roadmap to Integrate Offshore Renewable Energy into Climate-Smart Marine Spatial Planning.
Watson S.C. et al. 2024. The global impact of offshore wind farms on ecosystem services. Ocean & Coastal Management 249: 107023.