Concern over global climate change as a result of fossil fuel use has resulted in energy production from renewable sources. Marine renewable energy devices provide clean electricity but can also cause physical disturbance to the local environment. There is a considerable paucity of ecological data at potential marine renewable energy sites that is needed to assess potential future impacts and a...

Marine fisheries provide an essential source of protein for many people around the world. Unlike alternative terrestrial sources of protein, marine fish production requires little to no freshwater inputs. Consuming marine fish protein instead of terrestrial protein therefore represents freshwater savings (equivalent to an avoided water cost) and contributes to a low water footprint diet. These ...

The ocean dominates the surface of our planet and plays a major role in regulating the biosphere. For example, the microscopic photosynthetic organisms living within provide 50% of the oxygen we breathe, and much of our food and mineral resources are extracted from the ocean. In a time of ecological crisis and major changes in our society, it is essential to turn our attention towards the sea t...

An overview of the current design practices in the field of Renewable Energy (RE) is presented; also paper delineates the background to the development of unique and novel techniques for power generation using the kinetic energy of tidal streams and other marine currents. Also this study focuses only on vertical axis tidal turbine. Tidal stream devices have been developed as an alternative meth...

This paper describes the innovative offshore point-absorber wave energy converter (WEC), IRWEC1, under development by the Hydrodynamics, Acoustics and Marine propulsion Group at Babol Noshirvani University of Technology. Totally enclosed in an outer shell, with no external moving parts, IRWEC1 is completely sealed which make it a robust and trustable system. Important motion for this WEC is the...

The range of physiological adaptations possessed by marine animals allowing them to successfully operate in the marine environment is a plentiful source of inspiration for the designers of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. This chapter compares the total energetic cost of straight line swimming for both marine animals and AUVs, using cost of transport (COT) as a comparative metric. COT is a norma...

A summary of knowledge and recommendations for the conservation of marine birds and their habitats throughout the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.