Marine renewable energy can make a significant contribution to meeting our future renewable energy and carbon reduction targets. The seas around the UK have the potential to provide a large amount of renewable energy from tides, waves and offshore wind. The UK recently established a target of 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and there are expectations this could be tripled in order to meet UK Net Zero commitments. Tidal energy has also the potential to be a very reliable source of energy, given the clockwork predictability of the tides and, in late 2021, the UK government announced yearly investments into tidal power as part of its flagship renewable energy auction scheme.
Blue-Green Energy theme can potentially also include research and technological developments about ocean heat pumps, biofuels from algae, osmotic power generation, carbon capture and storage, offshore solar, geothermal energy, offshore hydrogen generation, storage and transport.
Key research questions include:
- What are the likely environmental impacts of offshore renewable energy projects?
- How can offshore renewable energy counteract the effects of a changing climate?
- How can we address the socio-economics of large-scale offshore renewable energy to make them economically and environmentally acceptable?
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