A Summary of Environmental Monitoring Recommendations for Marine Energy Development That Considers Life Cycle Sustainability

Abstract

Recommendations derived from papers documenting the Triton Field Trials (TFiT) study of marine energy environmental monitoring technology and methods under the Triton Initiative (Triton), as reported in this Special Issue, are summarized here. Additionally, a brief synopsis describes how to apply the TFiT recommendations to establish an environmental monitoring campaign, and provides an overview describing the importance of identifying the optimal time to perform such campaigns. The approaches for tracking and measuring the effectiveness of recommendations produced from large environmental monitoring campaigns among the stakeholder community are discussed. The discussion extends beyond the initial scope of TFiT to encourage discussion regarding marine energy sustainability that includes life cycle assessment and other life cycle sustainability methodologies. The goal is to inspire stakeholder collaboration across topics associated with the marine energy industry, including diversity and inclusion, energy equity, and how Triton’s work connects within the context of the three pillars of energy sustainability: environment, economy, and society.

Validating a Tethered Balloon System and Optical Technologies for Marine Wildlife Detection and Tracking

“…Triton is a marine energy project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office to advance the understanding of technologies and methodologies for monitoring the environment around marine energy devices. Additionally, these campaigns align with the energy equity framing and environmental justice practices we seek to incorporate into our research and inspire collaboration with all stakeholders involved in ME [47,48].…”

The modern capabilities of monitoring of sustainable and environmental development of the energy economy based on big data and datasets

“…Kizielewicz (2022) analysed the scientific basis of the monitoring of energy efficiency and the Environmental Ship Index by cruise seaports in Northern Europe. Amerson et al (2022) proposed recommendations on monitoring of the environment for marine energy development that considers life cycle sustainability.…”