We’re in the final countdown towards the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009. In anticipation, we’re running a series of mini-profiles of our OREC members who will be moderating our conference panels to give you a sense of the quality and substance that we intend to deliver.
What changes have you noticed in the industry since the time that you began working in the field until now?
Having been, for decades, a proponent of the evident proposition that renewable energy in general, and Ocean Energy in particular, has very significant potential benefits, the principle changes I have noticed are:
• OE technology is no longer the domain of the ‘loopy’ professor
• Research and development is now underpinned and driven by real concerns about peak oil and climate change
• The scale and intensity of research and development has increased markedly in recent years
• The sector is now increasingly populated with the type of professional and technical skills that will be needed to make OE operational.
How do you see the marine renewable industry helping our economy?
Marine renewables exemplify the opportunities that clean tech offers. It involves the large-scale design, manufacture and deployment of engineered structures with very significant industrial output and employment benefits.
What, if anything, makes the marine renewables industry different from other industries that you’ve worked with?
What distinguishes marine renewables, for me, is the twin potential for addressing the global challenges of hydrocarbons depletion and climate change and of establishing a new technology-driven industry on a comparable scale to the offshore oil and gas industry.
What do you find most exciting about the marine renewables industry?
This is frontier technology, combining marine technology, power engineering and ICT.
What, in your opinion, are the top two to three developments needed to bring marine renewables to commercialization?
1. Establishment, with government support, of significant scale test and demonstration infrastructure.
2. Development of effective zoning and permitting processes for OE developments.
What are your predictions for the marine renewables industry over the next 3-5 years?
A small number of governments and companies will sustain investment and effort in developing and proving the suite of technologies and capabilities that are entailed in OE and the shape of the first 100MW+ projects will be clearly emerging.
Eoin has a Masters degree in Economics from University College Dublin. His work has focused on Natural Resource development. He managed the Marine S&T programme in the National Board for Science and Technology and initiated InnovaWood, a knowledge transfer network for the Forest and Wood Industries throughout Europe. He managed the Discovery Programme, a major component of SeaChange, the Strategic Programme for the marine sector 2017-2013, within the Marine Institute. He is currently Head of the newly established Ocean Energy Development Unit, in Sustainable Energy Ireland.