Marine renewable energy, broadly, covers all of the energy produced from the kinetic energy of water. This could be using waves, offshore wind farms, tides, and currents, as well as utilising water temperature and salinity. Leask Marine operate to produce and install a number of these technologies in a variety of locations.
Many people often see offshore wind farms, and indeed wind turbines, as the most successful form of renewable energy. In many ways they are- they can harvest large amounts of wind due to minimal disturbance from buildings and can be built to optimise wind capture when out at sea without providing much of an eyesore. However, there are many wave-based and tidal-based technologies that are effective too.
Wave based technologies work by harnessing the energy from a wave via the use of point absorbers, oscillating water columns or accumulators. For example, Leask Marine have supported the production and maintenance of The Oyster 800; a technology that opens and closes with the waves to gather energy.
On the other hand, tide based technologies utilise the neap and ebb tide in order to produce energy. The technology that allows this to happen includes tidal barrages and currents.
In summary, marine renewables are a relatively new field of discovery which was developed in response to climate change. Despite their infancy, the developments have been vast and the industry will shortly be moving into its second generation. This offers a number of exciting opportunities for those interested in a career in marine renewables as there are plenty of technologies still to be developed and discovered- and you could be the one to make them!
This piece is a summary of the Outbox 2020 session run by Leask Marine. You can find out more about Leask Marine here >>
