1st Edition

Ocean Energy Governance Challenges for Wave and Tidal Stream Technologies

Edited By Glen Wright, Sandy Kerr, Kate Johnson Copyright 2018
    264 Pages 19 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    264 Pages 19 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Energy from wave and tidal power is a key component of current policies for renewable sources of energy. This book provides the first comprehensive exploration of legal, economic, and social issues related to the emerging ocean energy industry, in particular wave and tidal energy technologies. 

    This industry is rapidly developing, and considerable technical literature has developed around the technology. However, it is shown that challenges relating to regulation and policy are major impediments to industry development, and these aspects have not previously  been sufficiently highlighted and studied. The book informs policymakers, industry participants, and researchers of the key issues in this developing field. Ocean energy is considered in the context of the blue economy and an industrialising ocean, and the topics covered include: development of policy (policy instruments, risk and delay in technology development); legal aspects (consenting processes, resource management, impact assessment); human interactions (conflicts, consultation, community benefits); and spatial planning of the marine environment. 

    While offshore wind energy, sited in the oceans but not strictly derived from the ocean, is not the primary focus of the book, there is also discussion of the similarities and differences between offshore wind and wave and tidal power policy dimensions.

    1. Introduction: technology and governance

    Glen Wright, Sandy Kerr and Kate Johnson

    Part I Risk and economics

    2. Risk and Ocean Energy

    Simon Jude, Andrew Gill, Craig Mauelshagen and Edward Willsteed

    3. Government Policy, Risk and Investment Timing

    Shelley MacDougall 

    Part II Marine governance

    4. Building Governance at Sea

    Kate Johnson

    5. Marine Planning: an ocean energy perspective

    Kate Johnson and Glen Wright

    6. Mare Reservarum: enclosure of the commons and the evolution of marine rights in an age of ocean industrialisation

    Sandy Kerr, Kate Johnson, John Colton, Glen Wright

    Part III Project consenting and regulation

    7. Consenting Ocean Energy Projects: issues, challenges and opportunities

    Anne Marie O’Hagan and Glen Wright

    8. Consenting Ocean Energy Projects: an overview of procedures in selected jurisdictions

    Anne Marie O’Hagan and Glen Wright

    9. Ensuring Sustainable Development of Ocean Energy Technologies: the role of environmental assessment laws and policies

    Glen Wright, Edward Willsteed, Anne Marie O’Hagan 

    Part IV Community and conflicts

    10. A Sea of Troubles? Evaluating user conflicts in the development of ocean energy

    Jiska de Groot, Kieran Reilly, John Colton, Flaxen Conway

    11. Community Benefits Schemes: fair shares or token gestures?

    Sandy Kerr and Stephanie Weir

    12. Consultation in Ocean Energy Development

    John Colton, Flaxen Conway, Bouke Wiersma, Jordan Carlson, Patrick Devine-Wright

    13. Ocean Energy at the Edge

    Laura Watts and Brit Ross Winthereik

    Biography

    Glen Wright is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI, SciencesPo), Paris, France. 

    Sandy Kerr is Director and Associate Professor, International Centre for Island Technology, Heriot-Watt University, based in the Orkney Islands, UK. 

    Kate Johnson is an Assistant Professor, International Centre for Island Technology, Heriot-Watt University, based in the Orkney Islands, UK.

    "Ocean Energy is a valuable contribution to the literature and will likely assist the OE industry, policy-makers, and regulators in overcoming the governance challenges facing OE. The expert insights and solutions offered in Ocean Energy may contribute to the establishment of governance systems that facilitate sustainable OE development." - Daniel Watt, in Ocean Yearbook 33, Brill Nijhoff, 2019