convener:Bahareh Kamranzad(The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research/Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University), Simon P Neill(Bangor University), Zhaoqing Yang(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

The development of renewable energy technologies is a vital part of mitigating the negative impacts related to the combustion of fossil fuels, such as global warming and climate change. More than 70% of the surface of the Earth is covered by water, and the oceans hold more than 96% of all water on the Earth. In addition, two-thirds of the population of the world live within 100 km of the coast. Hence, ocean renewable energies (such as wave, tidal, current and offshore wind) present a sustainable solution to address current and future demand for electricity, particularly in areas that are adjacent to coastal zones. However, the ocean renewable energy resource is not only affected by intra-annual variability, but also longer-term variability due to changes in the climate. Accordingly, as well as quantifying the available resources, it is also important to assess variability over various time scales such as inter- and intra-annual, decadal, etc. Moreover, development of advanced wave and current energy converters that operate efficiently under various ocean conditions and minimizing the potential environmental impacts is crucial to the success of harvesting ocean renewable energy. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of ocean renewable energy has been gradually decreasing due to technology advancement. However, much more effort is required to reduce it more compared to other renewable energy resources. In this session, we welcome presentations across a wide-range of themes related to ocean renewable energy, including resource, impacts and technologies.