What are the impacts of this new technology?Tapping energy from the ocean waves… like most renewable energy systems, wave power has the potential to provide electricity from essentially inexhaustible resources without releasing carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.
In general, wave energy is considered to be environmentally benign compared to conventional fossil fuel resources. There are no polluting emissions from burning fuels, no disruptive mining activities and no potential for toxic spills as fuel is transported to a power plant.
Of course, like any human activity, there will be some negative impacts. Since there are no operating commercial wave energy devices in the world, and only a few systems (including Oceanlinx) that have produced electricity in at-sea demonstrations, there is presently very little hard information on the potential environmental impacts of wave power technologies. Some general issues have been outlined by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service, however, which recently concluded a draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for alternative energy development in the outer continental shelf. Read the report and public comments at http://ocsenergy.anl.gov.
The EIS noted that geological and geophysical studies should be conducted for each wave power site to ensure that anchors and cables can be properly located. There should be baseline data collected on the potentially affected benthic, marine mammal, bird, sea turtle and fish communities. The Department of Interior believes that the largest construction-related impacts are likely to come from the installation of the submarine power cable.
Any floating device in the ocean is likely to attract fish, and thus could be beneficial to the fish population. While there is some potential for marine animals to become entangled or harmed, various methods can be used to avoid this, including sonic pingers and turtle exclusion devices. The wave energy conversion equipment itself will sit low enough in the water and be far enough from shore that it will probably look like a vessel on the horizon if it can be seen at all; however, aesthetics are naturally subjective and different people will have different opinions about how visually intrusive wave power plants may be.
A full EIS is expected to be prepared for the proposed Oceanlinx project, which should detail the potential impacts and possible mitigation measures.
In partnership with the state’s energy office, the Maui Weekly provides this feature to help Valley Isle homeowners reduce their utility bills and increase their environmental awareness.