The National Oceanography Centre will be showcasing Natural Environment Research Council’s expertise in marine renewable energy at a key conference at Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands from 1 May.
The main aim of the EIMR International Conference (EIMR – Environmental Interactions of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies) is to assess leading research from around the world and develop a deeper understanding of how emergent technologies impact coastal communities, sealife and coastlines. It will bring together people from different disciplines and cultures to encourage collaboration and develop ideas.
The conference will be held in Kirkwall, on the Orkney Islands, Scotland, from Tuesday 1 May, to Thursday 3 May 2012, with an additional programme of special interest sessions, field trips and other activities from Monday 30 April until Friday 4 May. Several of these sessions have been made possible by the NERC Marine Renewable Energy Knowledge Exchange Programme.
NERC will be facilitating a session on the subject of Joint Business Opportunities With Research in partnership with the regional industry group, Energy North.
The National Oceanography Centre hosts NERC’s MREKE Programme, which shares information between academic research and industry, on behalf of all those with an interest in the Marine Renewable Energy sector.
NOC has considerable research expertise in the area of marine renewable energy. Recent NOC-led projects have included a study into interactions of marine renewable energy devices and sediment dynamics, a Government- funded knowledge transfer partnership with the University of Southampton and Pelamis Wave Power Ltd on the use of satellite data in the wave power industry and a collaboration with the University of Liverpool on the Joule project tidal resource for North West England.
It is currently involved in FLOWBEC – a project examining the impact of marine renewable energy devices on marine habitats, and an investigation into the environmental impacts of offshore wind-farms for the UK Energy Research Centre.
For further information about the programme is available from mrekep@nerc.ac.uk.
The latest news and information about the programme, together with an interactive knowledge exchange portal, can be found online at: www.nerc.ac.uk/using/keprog/MRE.asp.