Recently, the National Academies Press (NAP) released a report produced by the Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Technology Assessment Committee; Board on Energy
and Environmental Systems; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; Ocean
Studies Board; Division on Earth and Life Sciences; and the National Research Council titled, An Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy's Marine and Hydrokinetic Resource Assessments (2013). The 154-page report (available free with a one-time registration) discusses how,
[i]ncreasing renewable energy development, both within the United States and
abroad, has rekindled interest in the potential for marine and hydrokinetic
(MHK) resources to contribute to electricity generation. These resources derive
from ocean tides, waves, and currents; temperature gradients in the ocean; and
free-flowing rivers and streams. One measure of the interest in the possible use
of these resources for electricity generation is the increasing number of
permits that have been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC). As of December 2012, FERC had issued 4 licenses and 84 preliminary
permits, up from virtually zero a decade ago. However, most of these permits are
for developments along the Mississippi River, and the actual benefit realized
from all MHK resources is extremely small. The first U.S. commercial
gridconnected project, a tidal project in Maine with a capacity of less than 1
megawatt (MW), is currently delivering a fraction of that power to the grid and
is due to be fully installed in 2013.
As part of its assessment of MHK resources, DOE asked the National Research
Council (NRC) to provide detailed evaluations. In response, the NRC formed the
Committee on Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Technology Assessment. As directed in
its statement of task (SOT), the committee first developed an interim report,
released in June 2011, which focused on the wave and tidal resource assessments
(Appendix B). The current report contains the committee's evaluation of all five
of the DOE resource categories as well as the committee's comments on the
overall MHK resource assessment process. This summary focuses on the committee's
overarching findings and conclusions regarding a conceptual framework for
developing the resource assessments, the aggregation of results into a single
number, and the consistency across and coordination between the individual
resource assessments. Critiques of the individual resource assessment, further
discussion of the practical MHK resource base, and overarching conclusions and
recommendations are explained in An Evaluation of the U.S. Department of
Energy's Marine and Hydrokinetic Resource Assessment.
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the Navy requests 17 annual mortalities applicable to all small odontocetes (any combination of species known to be present in the Study Area) from training activities involving explosives, with a total of 85 mortalities predicted over the 5‐year period. Over the 5‐year LOA period being requested, the Navy requests 1,553 total Level A harassments and 10,267,161 total Level B harassments for all marine mammals combined for training activities. While the Navy does not anticipate any marine mammal strandings or mortalities from sonar or other active acoustic sources, the Navy requests authorization for additional take by mortality of up to 10 beaked whales in any given year and no more than 10 animals over the 5‐year LOA period as part of training activities involving the use of sonar and other active acoustic sources. (see pg. 107).
Federal Register Comments are being accepted through Nov. 5, 2012, here.
Federal Register Comments are being accepted through Nov. 5, 2012, here.
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