Environmental Factors Affecting Tidal Industry

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
AFFECTING TIDAL INDUSTRY

Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of renewable and
especially tidal through a political, economic, social, technology, legal and
environmental (PESTLE) analysis approach and by reviewing the most up to
date relevant literature. The study focuses on the given the favourable
environmental resources for such technologies.
Introduction: The marine energy industry has been forecast to be worth to

the UK economy by 2035,creating nearly 20,000 jobs in the process . The
industry is made up of offshore wind, wave energyand tidal stream energy,
with tidal energy having particular scope for growth within the UK
havingaround 50 per cent of Europe’s tidal energy resource. The UK has
recently been described as the undisputed global leader in marine energy with
it currently having more wave and tidal stream devices installed than the rest
of the world combined .such as the Department of Energy & Climate Change
(DECC) innovation funding for low carbon technologies .
This study employs a political, economic, social, technology, legal and

environmenta (PESTLE) approach to ensure that all involved disciplines are
covered, as well as identifying thekey stakeholders involved in marine and
specifically tidal energy. For this to be achieved, the mostup-to-date literature,
reports and guidelines are included in the sections to follow
PESTLE :
POLITICAL: Politics has the potential to have a dramatic effect on the future of
tidal energy presenting many opportunities alongside many risks to existing
and future tidal developments.The United Nations have a number of advisory
boards in order to provide sustainable energy . The United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development summit was a meeting of global leaders, whilst at
the same time creating more political pressure to achieve the stability of the
world’s energy. The United Nations Development Programme is also in place
alongside the project. Other organisations providing political influence on a
world level include the International Energy Association (IEA) and the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) which are both
intergovernmental agencies focusing on supporting countries to a sustainable
energy future. The European Commission has set a target for countries within
the EU by 2020 to achieve a 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas levels from
1990. Alongside the European Commission are the Agency for the Cooperation
of Energy Regulators .These two political bodies are currently applying
significant amounts of pressure to member states in order to secure a
sustainable energy future. But perhaps the most applicable European level
agency is the European Ocean Energy Association .
economical: There are numerous economic factors that must be considered

for the tidal energy industry. The most noticeable is perhaps funding as this
was identified in a report of stakeholders as the biggest hurdle to tidal energy
and that it is the key to any future developments. In order to understand the
true costs associated with developing tidal energy a report was published by
Ernst and Young .which presents a breakdown in estimated cost for tidal
stream projects in the UK .These seemingly high costs are due to the
technology being in there early stages of development. The future of the
World and UK economy still appears uncertain, which poses further risk to the
future of tidal energy developments. On a European level there is support
through the European Commission and Community Research and
Development Information Service (CORDIS), with marine energy their inputs
will attract the crucial private sector investment to make tidal energy
commercial. There is the risk that other forms of renewable energy .will
become accepted and further commercialised and tidal energy will be
neglected.
SOCIAL: Social aspects of technology are often overlooked by developers at

early stages, potentially being a costly mistake for tidal developers as this
group of stakeholders have in several cases delayed and even stopped projects
completely. The enquiry began on the 4 June 2013 and is expected to This
public enquiry was carried out after thousands of signatures were gathered
opposing the developments as they would damage the natural beauty of the
surrounding area. This highlights the idea that in principle the public accept
renewable energy, but with opposition to individual projects on a more local
level remaining frequent.However, it has been a number of years since the
report, with in-stream tidal energy gaining more publicity.
TECHOLOGICAL: The ability to harness some of the world’s most abundant

tidal energy presents the UK with a piece of technology that could have a
significant impact on the country’s overall energy generation. The developer
with the highest output power and efficiency rating may be seen as the most
attractive to potential investors, but with the technology behind tidal energy
still in its early stages there is still great risk in the development stage, with this
being one of the main reasons why banks have not yet invested in the
technology.required expertise, as well as identify a supply chain that is capable
of producing components and system. The plethora of designs under
development (in different stages of maturity) means that it is very competitive
in terms of producing the best design in order to win over investors, therefore
it is important that developers produce a truly world class design and are
committed throughout the project.
LEGAL: Currently legislation and regulations governing marine and tidal

energy devices are very complicated, with the Department of Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) identifying the need to simplify them in order
to reduce legislative risk for developers. Even if this simplification goes through
there are still a number of legislative policies which apply to tidal energy
devices within the UK and this section will look at these in more detail. At
world level there is the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea which
“lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order” which are applicable to
all oceans and seas to establish rules to govern their uses. This gives the
sovereign state the control over water within 200 nautical miles of its coast
amongst other rights. At a European level there are a number of directives
which may be applicable to tidal energy including the Renewable Energy
Directives in 2001 and the update and for Cyprus a daily penalty. Strategic
Environmental Assessments and Environment. As well as these four main
directives there is also legislation specific to the use of the marine environment
in the form of The Water Framework Directive for improving the quality of
water focusing on ecology and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to
help Energies 2013 protect the marine environment.
ENVIRONMENT: The UK government has committed itself to reaching EU

targets on climate change and marine energy devices can contribute by
producing energy with decreased greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and
damage from acid rain but only if managed correctly . There is the possibility
that developers may overlook other environmental impacts as they falsely
assume that they are already contribute positively by saving on the use of
fossil fuels. However, developers must consider the bigger picture and how
their actions may have detrimental effects to the environment at any stage of
the project. The environment in this context refers to the area surrounding the
device and all that is Contained .In order to help monitor the environmental
uncertainty of marine energy devices two main directives were put in place by
the European Commission; the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive . These were both put in
place so that the environmental implications are considered before any
decisions are made and they should be carried out for each individual project
and device due to the public participation is a big part of these studies. There
are a number of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Strategic
Environmental Assessments (SEAs) available in literature including the Sea.
CONCLUSIONS: The UK has an abundance of marine energy sources in its

coastal waters, which have the potential to play a major role in the future of
the UKs energy mix. early stages of development there are numerous areas of
uncertainty which need to be explored to secure the future of the industry. To
bridge these gaps in data this paper looks at the marine energy.

Environmental Factors Affecting Tidal Industry

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Environmental Factors Affecting Tidal Industry

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Environmental Factors Affecting Tidal Industry

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

AFFECTING TIDAL INDUSTRY

Introduction: The marine energy industry has been forecast to be worth to

This study employs a political, economic, social, technology, legal and

economical: There are numerous economic factors that must be considered

SOCIAL: Social aspects of technology are often overlooked by developers at

TECHOLOGICAL: The ability to harness some of the world’s most abundant

LEGAL: Currently legislation and regulations governing marine and tidal

ENVIRONMENT: The UK government has committed itself to reaching EU

CONCLUSIONS: The UK has an abundance of marine energy sources in its

You might also like