Marine renewable energy extraction from wind, wave and tides has the potential to contribute significantly to energy security for further generations and to mitigate the effects of climate change. This however would require the deployment of large arrays of devices in the coastal and shelf regions. Common to these three forms of energy extraction is a concern regarding the potential environmental consequences on the marine environment as a result of large array deployments of the technology.

This session welcomes contributions on all aspects of environmental impacts of marine renewable energy: wind, wave and tide. Research themes include biological interactions with the resource, biological interactions with the device and managing space. Research areas are envisaged to include but not restricted to: modelling and quantification of the interaction of the device to the marine environment (e.g. changes in hydrodynamics) as well as on the biology directly; ecological study designs and methods; new technologies for quantification; management of space; collision; noise; habitat change; community change for all trophic levels interaction.