The ocean and offshore environment represents an abundant source of renewable energy. Engineers must create technologies, such as wave-energy converters and wind turbines, capable of both harnessing power and withstanding the harsh environment of the sea. With questions about the short- and long-term reliability and sustainability of the power grid, having alternate energy options is critical. While many forms of renewable energy, such as solar and nuclear, call land their home, other methods — such as offshore wind farms, wave energy, and current/tide energy — are taking to the seas to generate electricity.
The modern world needs a diverse energy portfolio, and during the past decade, significant investments have been committed to harnessing marine renewable energy sources that have a theoretical potential to far exceed the world's present power generation needs. Growing a vibrant clean energy industry will lead to major societal benefits by reducing pollution and creating many jobs. In addition to well-established renewables like wind, solar, and traditional hydropower, marine currents have the potential to diversify and significantly strengthen the global energy portfolio. While offshore wind energy is commercially competitive, current wave-energy converters (which sit close to the surface of the water and utilize the natural motion of waves to generate electricity) are less cost-effective and only useful for smaller-scale, special purposes.
We will accept the following article types: Original Research, Methods, and Reviews. Themes of interest include but are not limited to the following:
• Of these untapped resources, open ocean currents, or predominantly unidirectional large scale circulations located near eastern coastlines of most continents, are located in deeper ocean areas (>250m), but flow near the sea surface. Various commercial interests now propose to install turbines to convert these vast kinetic energy reserves into usable electrical power, but thus far, no large-scale, commercial production prototypes have been constructed or tested in relevant environments.
• This publication will also focus on basic research focused on extracting electrical power from marine currents using ocean current turbines. These turbines will operate near the sea surface in major offshore currents and will be interconnected in arrays.
• The publication can consider research articles treating fundamental issues related to coordinated, safe, reliable, and robust operation of these turbines within the array for maximum energy production.
• Networked electrical interconnections between devices and energy storage will also be investigated, with a focus on efficiently feeding electrical power from an array of turbines to an onshore grid.
• Broader scientific and technological impacts are expected in the energy sector, ocean engineering and technology, marine vehicles and devices, as well as autonomy and control systems.
• The next generation of offshore energy lies in the development of a synergistic combination of several renewable energy production methods, set atop a floating offshore platform. Offshore renewable energy can directly power remote islands, numerous ocean platforms, electric boats, and underwater drones and vehicles, as well as “Blue Economy” systems, such as marine aqua-culture, fish or macro algae farms.
• Making wave-energy converters more commercially competitive by combining them with desalination plants and hydrogen factories.
Keywords:
Ocean, Offshore, Systems, Renewables, Marine
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
The ocean and offshore environment represents an abundant source of renewable energy. Engineers must create technologies, such as wave-energy converters and wind turbines, capable of both harnessing power and withstanding the harsh environment of the sea. With questions about the short- and long-term reliability and sustainability of the power grid, having alternate energy options is critical. While many forms of renewable energy, such as solar and nuclear, call land their home, other methods — such as offshore wind farms, wave energy, and current/tide energy — are taking to the seas to generate electricity.
The modern world needs a diverse energy portfolio, and during the past decade, significant investments have been committed to harnessing marine renewable energy sources that have a theoretical potential to far exceed the world's present power generation needs. Growing a vibrant clean energy industry will lead to major societal benefits by reducing pollution and creating many jobs. In addition to well-established renewables like wind, solar, and traditional hydropower, marine currents have the potential to diversify and significantly strengthen the global energy portfolio. While offshore wind energy is commercially competitive, current wave-energy converters (which sit close to the surface of the water and utilize the natural motion of waves to generate electricity) are less cost-effective and only useful for smaller-scale, special purposes.
We will accept the following article types: Original Research, Methods, and Reviews. Themes of interest include but are not limited to the following:
• Of these untapped resources, open ocean currents, or predominantly unidirectional large scale circulations located near eastern coastlines of most continents, are located in deeper ocean areas (>250m), but flow near the sea surface. Various commercial interests now propose to install turbines to convert these vast kinetic energy reserves into usable electrical power, but thus far, no large-scale, commercial production prototypes have been constructed or tested in relevant environments.
• This publication will also focus on basic research focused on extracting electrical power from marine currents using ocean current turbines. These turbines will operate near the sea surface in major offshore currents and will be interconnected in arrays.
• The publication can consider research articles treating fundamental issues related to coordinated, safe, reliable, and robust operation of these turbines within the array for maximum energy production.
• Networked electrical interconnections between devices and energy storage will also be investigated, with a focus on efficiently feeding electrical power from an array of turbines to an onshore grid.
• Broader scientific and technological impacts are expected in the energy sector, ocean engineering and technology, marine vehicles and devices, as well as autonomy and control systems.
• The next generation of offshore energy lies in the development of a synergistic combination of several renewable energy production methods, set atop a floating offshore platform. Offshore renewable energy can directly power remote islands, numerous ocean platforms, electric boats, and underwater drones and vehicles, as well as “Blue Economy” systems, such as marine aqua-culture, fish or macro algae farms.
• Making wave-energy converters more commercially competitive by combining them with desalination plants and hydrogen factories.
Keywords:
Ocean, Offshore, Systems, Renewables, Marine
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.