Knowledge Exchange for Wave and Tidal Energy (KEWTE)

在全球气候变化、能源安全和环境保护迫在眉睫的背景下，可再生能源现在被认为是可持续能源供应的重要组成部分。英国和苏格兰政府为可再生能源发电设定了雄心勃勃的目标：到2020年，苏格兰50%的电力将来自可再生能源，英国总能源消费的15%来自可再生能源。英国拥有世界上最丰富的波浪和潮汐能资源之一，在充满挑战和活力的海洋环境中研究、开发和部署这项技术处于领先地位。该行业的成功依赖于自然环境(波浪和潮汐)，但波浪和潮汐能设备如何与环境相互作用往往没有得到很好的了解。通过几十年的研究，英国科学家已经获得了关于我们海洋的大量知识和丰富的经验&这些数据可以被翻译并应用于支持可持续的波浪和潮汐能发电。该项目将在英国研究界和开发利用海洋能源的技术的公司之间建立一种共同语言，这样做将支持这些组织之间以及与英国政府和行业监管机构之间的合作和信息交流，以帮助维持该行业的持续增长。虽然英国处于海洋可再生能源发展的前沿，但海洋能源的生产绝不局限于英国。事实上，世界上几乎每个大洲都在开发项目，希望在海外开发的英国公司可以进入这些项目。同样，许多跨国公司也有兴趣在英国发展。被英国在该领域的领先地位和丰富的自然资源所吸引，一些国际开发商已经在奥克尼的EMEC和康沃尔的Wave Hub的波浪和潮汐能设备测试中心获得了一席之地。无论是在英国还是在国外，这类开发商面临的许多最大挑战都是理解和管理设备与环境的交互。在这个项目中，该研究员将突出全球海洋可再生能源开发的热点，并确定世界各地共同的环境挑战。一个关键目标是识别、翻译和应用世界领先的英国环境研究，以帮助应对这些共同的挑战。该奖学金将为适用的英国研究提供国际业务，并帮助英国研究人员形成富有成效的行业合作，以增加他们工作的影响力和接受度。该项目将突出关键挑战领域的相关研究成果，并在一系列公报中总结这些成果。这些公告将向企业和政策制定者广泛提供并有针对性地提供，以增加对环境的了解，从而降低企业在应对环境挑战方面的风险和成本。预计这一方法将鼓励该行业向英国进行金融投资，并将给寻求在海外增长和发展的英国公司带来信心。对波浪和潮汐能行业的学术投入可以帮助降低与英国许多开发项目相关的环境风险。因此，通过降低环境影响评估的成本和这些项目所在的极端近海环境的不确定性，将增加人们对该部门可持续性的信心。这无疑将鼓励来自英国和海外的进一步投资，往往是对能源资源最丰富的农村或偏远沿海地区的投资。因此，在整个项目中提供的支持和联网有助于在这些地区创造就业机会和促进再生，同时保持经济上强大的、世界领先的海洋可再生能源部门。

In the context of global climate change, imminent need for energy security and environmental conservation, renewable energy is now considered an important element of a sustainable energy supply. The UK and Scottish Governments have set ambitious targets for power generation from renewable sources: 50% of electricity is to be generated from renewable sources in Scotland, and 15% of the UK's total energy consumption is to be from renewable sources by 2020. The UK has one of the richest wave & tidal energy resources in the world and is at the forefront of researching, developing & deploying this technology in challenging & energetic ocean environments. The industry's success depends on the natural environment (waves & tides), but often how wave & tidal energy devices interact with the environment is not well understood. Through decades of research UK scientists have gained substantial knowledge about our seas and a wealth of experience & data that could be translated and applied in support of sustainable wave and tidal energy generation. This project will create a common language between the UK research community and companies developing technology to harness ocean energy, and in doing so will support collaboration and information exchange between these groups, and with the UK government and industry regulators, to help maintain the ongoing growth of the industry.While the UK is at the forefront of marine renewable energy development, the production of energy from the ocean is by no means limited to the UK. Indeed projects are being developed on almost every continent around the world which could be accessed by UK companies looking to develop overseas. Likewise, many international companies are interested in developing in the UK. Attracted by the UK's leading position in the field and our wealth of natural resources, some international developers have already secured a place at the wave and tidal energy device testing centres at EMEC on Orkney, and at Wave Hub in Cornwall. Many of the greatest challenges facing such developers, whether in the UK or abroad, is in understanding and managing the interaction of the devices with the environment. During this project the fellow will highlight worldwide hotspots for marine renewable energy development and identifying common environmental challenges around the world. A key objective is to identify, translate and apply world leading UK environmental research to help tackle these common challenges. This Fellowship will signpost international business to applicable UK research and help UK researchers form productive industry collaborations to increase the impact and uptake of their work. The project will highlight relevant research outputs in key challenge areas and summarize these in a series of Bulletins. These Bulletins will be made widely available and targeted to businesses and policy makers in order to increase environmental understanding and therefore reduce risk and costs to businesses associated with tackling environmental challenges. It is anticipated that this approach will encourage financial investment from the industry into the UK, and will give confidence to British companies looking to grow and develop overseas.Academic input into the wave and tidal energy industries can help to reduce the environmental risks associated with many developments in the UK. Subsequently, by reducing the cost of environmental impact assessments and uncertainty around the extreme offshore environments where these projects are situated, confidence in the sustainability of the sector will increase. This will undoubtedly encourage further investment, both from the UK and from abroad, often into the rural or remote coastal locations where the energy resource is greatest. The support and networking provided throughout this project can therefore help to create jobs and spark regeneration in these areas while sustaining an economically strong, world-leading marine renewable energy sector.