Media Relations
Press Release:
MEDIA CONTACT: Gisele Galoustian
561-297-2010, ggaloust@fau.edu
Florida Governor Charlie Crist
Proclaims November 1-7 as 'Ocean Renewable Energy Week'
in Observance of FAU’s National Conference
Conference is being hosted by
the Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center
at FAU to bring together national and international
leaders in marine science and technology
BOCA RATON, FL (November 2, 2010) —Florida Governor Charlie Crist has proclaimed November 1-7, 2010 as “Ocean Renewable Energy Week” in Florida in observance of a national conference being hosted by the Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Florida Atlantic University. “Renewable Ocean Energy & the Marine Environment: Responsible Stewardship for a Sustainable Future,” will bring together national and international leaders in ocean renewable energy to explore cutting-edge science and technology to identify gaps in the current state of knowledge regarding the environmental impacts of marine renewable energy. The conference is taking place November 3-5, 2010 at PGA National Resort, 400 Avenue of the Champions, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Conference topics will cover oceanography, benthic environments, pelagic environments, coastal environments, reefs and fish, data management, and the social and economic implications of renewable ocean energy.
“We are truly honored that Governor Crist has designated this week to coincide with our first conference in our official role as a nationally-designated center in ocean renewable energy technology,” said FAU President Mary Jane Saunders. “Bringing together academic researchers, technology developers from industry, federal and state agency scientists, and environmental interest groups will help to ensure that our Center is a responsible steward in moving forward to provide our citizens with cost-effective and clean energy.”
Marine ecosystems include many protected species which rely on complex food chains and undertake extensive migration patterns. Although single experimental generating systems are unlikely to have significant effects on the physical environment, large, commercial-scale arrays could have an impact. Participants at the conference will explore how testing platforms and facilities can be used effectively, while protecting complex marine ecosystems. They will identify, address and determine how to minimize and mitigate potential impacts in order to use renewable ocean energy using an approach that is environmentally and socially sound.
“The effects on the marine environment of large-scale hydrokinetic and thermal power generation are largely unknown,” said Susan Skemp, executive director of SNMREC. “Understanding how the operations of power generation systems will interact with marine ecosystems will be a critical first step toward deploying ocean energy equipment in a sustainable manner.”
Presenters at the conference represent SNMREC, FAU, the U.S.
Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Interior, the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, the Northwest Marine Renewable Energy Center, the
Hawaii National Marine Renewable Energy Center, the European Marine
Energy Center, the California Natural Resources Agency, Ocean
Conservancy, Oregon State University and Oregon Sea Grant,
Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association, the Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, URI Coastal Resources
Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant, Sea Mammal Research Unit and
Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews in the United
Kingdom, Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research and Fundy Ocean
Research Centre for Energy in Canada, and BioSonics, Inc.
For more information about the conference, visit
www.ces.fau.edu/conferences/coet
.
- FAU -
About the Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center at FAU:
In August 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
designated FAU’s Center for Ocean Energy Technology as a
national center for ocean energy research and development. The
new Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC)
at FAU joins centers in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii that
also work to advance the operational readiness of ocean energy
technologies. DOE is funding the SNMREC to undertake research
and development of technologies capable of generating renewable
energy from ocean currents and ocean thermal energy. The SNMREC
is collaborating with industry partners to investigate, refine,
fabricate and test promising next-generation water power
technologies to harness the ocean’s vast energy
potential. The Center’s researchers have already begun
this work by deploying ocean current observation systems,
establishing research on environmental baselines to determine
the level of potential effects, and initiating the fabrication
of support structures for ocean energy devices. The Center will
ultimately perform full-scale field testing of prototype
devices, an important step toward the successful development of
innovative new ocean energy systems. As a public institution of
higher education, FAU is also promoting public awareness of
ocean energy research and development, and is developing
curricula for the education of a workforce for this new
industry. Formerly called the Center for Ocean Energy
Technology, the Center was founded with a $5M award from the
state of Florida in January 2007, and was established to
research, design, develop, implement, and test ocean energy
technologies that are cost-competitive with existing power
technologies.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the
fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves
more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven
campuses and sites. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching
university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10 colleges:
the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the College
of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the
College of Education, the College of Engineering
& Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L.
Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of
Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. For more
information, visit
www.fau.edu
.
