Ocean Energy: Governance Challenges for Wave and Tidal Stream Technologies

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.

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.