1. Kellie O’Connor
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
(206)-528-3423
kellie.o’connor@pnnl.gov
Tethys - Environmental Effects of
Renewable Energy from the Sea
Kellie O’Connor
FileName//FileDate//PNNL-SA-#####
1. Introduction to Marine Renewable
Energy and Offshore Wind Energy
Devices
Energy generated from the ocean is beginning
to add to the renewable energy portfolio
worldwide. Growing usage of marine
renewable and offshore wind energy devices
has led to more interest in how these devices
affect the environment. These devices that
cause potential environmental issues by
collecting energy from:
• In-stream River Currents;
• Ocean Currents;
• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion;
• Tides;
• Waves; and
• Offshore Wind.
3. My Work This Summer
I engaged in the new and emerging science of
environmental effects of ocean energy
development and added to the value of
Tethys by defining the interactions between
receptors and stressors. I also applied this this
information to many of the documents
hosted on Tethys. The interactions I worked
on included:
• Collision/Evasion of Devices by Marine
Animals and Birds
• Attraction/Avoidance of Animals to
Devices
• Change in Sediment Transport/Water
Quality due to Energy Removal; and
• Entrapment of Organisms.
Additionally I also helped with retagging
documents and adding new documents.
4. Impact of My Work
The interaction and support I provided this
summer will assist a broad range of user groups to
understand environmental effects of ocean energy
development, and will help move the US and
other countries towards energy independence
with this new renewable energy source. In
addition, my work will help:
• Marine energy technology and project developers
find documents that will show them how to
minimize environmental effects from devices and
projects;
• Regulators become informed and assist in making
decisions for permitting marine energy devices
that are protective of the environment;
• Stakeholders better understand the real risks from
ocean energy devices, and minimize concerns for
low risk interactions ; and
• Researchers find research to support their work,
identify research gaps, and make new
collaborative contacts.
2. Tethys
Tethys is an online database that collects and
disseminates documents on environmental
effects of offshore renewable energy.
Developed and managed by PNNL, Tethys
currently has over 2500 entries, categorized
by stressors/receptors.
Stressors are characteristics/side effects of
devices that can effect the environment and
include chemicals; dynamic/static parts of
devices; electromagnetic frequency; energy
removal; lighting; and noise.
These can positively or negatively affect
receptors(parts of environment affected)
which include:
• Organisms (Bats, Benthic Invertebrates,
Birds, Marine Mammals, Fish, etc.);
• Physical Environment (Farfield
Environment, Nearfield Habitat,
Ecosystem); and
• Socio-Economics (fishing, recreation,
shipping) tethys.pnnl.gov
Tidal Turbine Wave Energy Device Offshore Wind Turbine
Albatross – Some seabirds are endangered and could be
at risk for collision with offshore wind turbines
Tethys Knowledge Database- Tethys’s collection of
documents from varying areas of research
Orca - Marine mammals are protected in the marine environment and
risks from collision with tidal turbines must be avoided
The Tethys Map Viewer documents the worldwide span of growing
interest about the environmental effects of marine/offshore wind
renewable energy
This work was supported in part by the U.S.
Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of
Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists
(WDTS) under the Community College Internships
Program (CCI).