Abstract
Marine energy is poised to become an important renewable energy contributor for the U.S., but widespread deployment of the technology hinges on its benefits outweighing the potential ecological impacts. One stressor marine energy installations introduce is light, which is known to cause varying responses among wildlife and has not yet been addressed as an environmental concern. This review discusses requirements and regulations for similar structures and how lighting design choices can be made to meet these requirements while minimizing environmental consequences. More practical guidance on implementing lighting for marine energy is needed, as well as updated guidelines to reflect technological and research advances. Known responses of wildlife to light are introduced in addition to how the responses of individuals may lead to ecosystem-level changes. The impact of light associated with marine energy installations can be reduced by following basic guidance provided herein, such as removing excess lighting, using lights with high directionality, and employing controls to reduce light levels. Continued research on animal responses to light, such as findings on minimum light levels for animal responses, alongside the development of highly-sensitivity spectral characterization capabilities can further inform lighting guidelines for deploying future open ocean marine energy devices.
Highlights
Global energy concerns have led to the rise of renewable energy technologies, far primarily land-based operations
Throughout this work, we review the current lighting requirements relevant to marine energy (ME) devices, discuss what may be done to minimize the ecological impacts of necessary lighting, and recommend steps to address the challenges and potential problems before ME installations go in the water
We primarily focus on discrete sources of light as the main lighting stressor that ME
Summary
Global energy concerns have led to the rise of renewable energy technologies, far primarily land-based operations. More recent forays look to the ocean as well, with marine energy (ME), including wave energy converters (WECs), of increasing interest The introduction of these novel structures in the marine environment presents new challenges and concerns related to uncertainties surrounding a variety of environmental stressors [1,2]. Throughout this work, we review the current lighting requirements relevant to ME devices, discuss what may be done to minimize the ecological impacts of necessary lighting, and recommend steps to address the challenges and potential problems before ME installations go in the water In this introduction, a general discussion of ME is followed by an overview of light as a stressor to contextualize the latter sections of this review.
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