The creation of a single and competitive energy market is among the priorities set by the European Union for the next thirty years. The desire to reduce imports relies on diversifying energy production sources, ranging from traditional to more innovative ones. The European green deal, which was widely discussed during the worst of the Covid-19 crisis, sets out a roadmap to make this transition faster while remaining sustainable at an economic, social and environmental level. While on one hand the Union will commit to keeping fossil fuel markets fair, on the other it will support the spread of technologies with low CO2 emissions. These include solar photovoltaic and wind power, renewable hydrogen and carbon capture and storage technologies.

Last, but not least, ocean energy.

What is ocean energy

The terms ocean energy, marine energy or pelagic energy refer to the energy present in seas and oceans. Today research is focused on a variety of technologies. Some harness the movement of waves and tides and are able to produce mechanical energy before converting it into electricity. Others are devices that capture the chemical energy contained in waters with differences in temperature and salinity, such as coastal or open-sea waters, surface or deep waters.

Like other emerging technologies, ocean energy is encountering a number of obstacles to its uptake. These include problems related to connection to the energy infrastructure, cumbersome bureaucracy and difficult access to public and private resources. And yet these technologies could be fundamental in preventing coastal erosion in countries such as Italy, which has a highly developed coastline. They would also be extremely useful on islands, which are often disconnected from national infrastructure and dependent on polluting and costly diesel-fired power plants.

The European Union's work on ocean energy

The path set out by the European Union requires a strong commitment from all energy stakeholders, who will need to ensure a reliable supply at affordable prices through modern, transnational infrastructure. In 2014, the European Commission, the EU's executive body responsible for defining its strategy, drew up an ocean energy action plan. The strategy set as its primary objective the promotion of knowledge and expertise sharing among industry professionals, researchers and less informed citizens. The exchange between member states would not exclude cooperation with Australia and Asia, where research into blue energy, as it is often called, is concentrated. This would be a first important step towards overcoming the barriers to the uptake of these technologies that harness wave motion, currents and tides.

Last May, the European executive began reviewing the results of this strategy. Through to June, it drew up a roadmap — a sequence of actions to achieve the objectives set out in the plan — and sought to understand how to advance research and innovation within the broader European framework dedicated to alternative energies.

EU Science & Innovation 🇪🇺 @EUScienceInnov

𝕏

What’s next for the future of #OurOcean?
The EU has launched a consultation on international ocean governance to identify actions to deliver on the #SDGs & the #EUGreenDeal.

Have your say: europa.eu/!wH67Wh 📝🌊

#MissionOcean

♥ 61 27 ago 2020 · Apri su X →

To gather ideas, opinions and criticism, on 27 August it launched a public consultation. Until midnight on 10 December, contributions can be submitted by responding to an online questionnaire. The call is addressed to all actors in the public and private sector, international organisations, public investment funds, industry representatives, researchers, non-profit organisations and citizens.

"Ocean energy can provide clean, programmable and reliable energy and contribute to the EU's objectives of achieving a renewable energy share of at least 32 per cent of final consumption by 2030 and decarbonising the economy by 2050," reads the European Commission's dedicated page. The energy of seas and oceans has unlimited potential and could play a strategic role in the European Union's green transition process. Provided that the political decisions of member states, aimed at identifying financial instruments for technological development, coexist respectfully with the Earth and its resources.