Space@Sea the Floating Solution

Abstract

This paper describes the Horizon 2020 project Space@Sea (www.spaceatseaproject.eu) which started in November 2017. This project aims to provide a concept of affordable and flexible floating islands. With increasing population and rising sea level there is a scarcity for space on land for the people to live, grow food and harvest renewable energy. Moreover, a large number of people live in areas that are exposed to the risk of flooding in case of sea level rise. These trends call for a solution at sea that creates a new perspective. Previous projects on floating habitation such as the TROPOS project (www.Troposplatform.eu) have delivered artist impressions. Technical solutions are yet to be provided. In the Space@Sea project a conceptual study is done to develop a standardized floating solution for offshore space. Four applications focusing on energy hub, living, aquaculture and maritime transport will be demonstrated. For two locations a business case of a combination of these applications will be examined. The present paper discusses the Space@Sea project background and approach of the collaborative research. First results regarding the basic design and societal acceptance are discussed at a high level. Throughout the Space@Sea project results will be published on Frontiers in Marine Science.

Developing an Environmental Impact Assessment for Floating Island Applications

“…Space@Sea floating islands are designed to enable multi-use applications, e.g., combining transport activities with living facilities and aquaculture (Flikkema and Waals, 2019). These different applications comprise multiple activities taking place within the same space and time dimensions.…”

“…The spatial scale of the EIA needs to be identified, both in terms of detail and spatial extent (João, 2002). The cases are situated in the North Sea and Mediterranean (Flikkema and Waals, 2019) and are addressed at a regional level. This means that the spatial detail is at the level of the North Sea and Mediterranean Sea, without site-specific information such as species distribution within these areas.…”

“…In search for solutions to this emerging threat, initiatives for spatial developments are shifting to the offshore environment, e.g., (Buck and Langan(eds), 2017;Wang et al, 2019Wang et al, , 2020Ang et al, 2020;Elliott et al, 2020;Ruzzo et al, 2021). The Space@Sea project is such an initiative, involving a conceptual study to develop a standardized floating solution providing offshore space (Flikkema and Waals, 2019). Four applications focusing on energy hub, living, aquaculture, and maritime transport are described and for two locations a business case of a combination of these applications (i.e., multi-use) will be examined (Flikkema and Waals, 2019).…”

“…The Space@Sea project is such an initiative, involving a conceptual study to develop a standardized floating solution providing offshore space (Flikkema and Waals, 2019). Four applications focusing on energy hub, living, aquaculture, and maritime transport are described and for two locations a business case of a combination of these applications (i.e., multi-use) will be examined (Flikkema and Waals, 2019). The Space@Sea project aims to support the development of a standardized cost efficient floating modular island with low environmental impact.…”

Design Framework for a Modular Floating Container Terminal

“…However, to the best of the authors' knowledge, none of the already proposed approaches considers the design of an offshore terminal based on a floating platform that consists of multiple modules (i.e., interconnected floaters). Therefore, there exists no study focused on the potential of such a modular transport and logistics hub that expands in capacity and size over time to accommodate growth scenarios (Flikkema and Waals, 2019).…”