Description
The development of offshore renewable energy systems is an international priority driven by the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and decrease human impacts on global climate. At the same time, the increasing demand for high quality seafoods, marine products, and recreational opportunities is accelerating worldwide.
The purpose of this symposium is to develop opportunities and document progress toward a new vision of designed, permitted, offshore ecosystems that have windpower energy systems as their focus to provide mutual benefits for multiple uses of ocean space and many new opportunities to develop the “green economy.”
This symposium will bring together international experts in wind energy, biotechnologies, seafoods, fisheries, aquaculture, and leading legal and policy experts to discuss innovative methods for the integration of these future uses into windfarm marine areas.
Four sessions will be convened each led by an invited, topical keynote speaker:
-
What Is the Next Generation of Marine Spatial Planning?
- Innovations in Aquaculture Technologies Suitable for Integration with Offshore Energy Systems
- Designing and Managing Offshore Structures to Enhance Coastal Habitats, Fishing & Alternative Livelihoods
- Regional Needs on Knowledge Transfer, Mitigating Impacts and Future Uses of Windpower Areas
Symposium Speakers
Dr. Bela Buck, Head of the Marine Aquaculture, Maritime Technologies and ICZM Work Group at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany, will provide the symposium keynote address. Willett M. Kempton, of the College of Marine and Earth Studies at the University of Delaware, is one of the lunch speakers. Leon Cammen, National Sea Grant College Program director, will also address participants.
Five sessions will be convened, each led by a keynote speaker.
Agenda
Monday 2 November 2009
0700-0830 Breakfast and Registration
0830-0930 Welcome & Introductory Remarks
Donald DeHayes, Provost
University of Rhode Island
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)
David Farmer, Dean
University of Rhode Island
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Director
Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
Professor, University of Rhode Island
Speaker bio
0930-1030 Symposium Keynote Speaker
Bela H. Buck
Head of the Marine Aquaculture, Maritime Technologies & ICZM Work Group, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research,
Institute for Marine Resources & the University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven, Germany
Talk:
"Meeting the quest for spatial efficiency: Progress and prospects of extensive aquaculture within offshore wind farms in Europe"
Speaker bio
1030-1045 BREAK
1045-1245 Session 1: What is the Next Generation of Marine Spatial Planning?
Session Chair
Dennis Nixon, Associate Dean for Research & Administration and Professor
Graduate School of Oceanography
University of Rhode Island
Panelists
Jim Lanard, Managing Director
Deepwater Wind, LLC
Hoboken, New Jersey
Talk: "The relationship between marine spatial planning, the offshore wind industry, and climate change"
Speaker bio
Sandra Whitehouse, Senior Advisor
Ocean Conservancy
Talk: "The use of marine spatial planning in the appropriate siting of marine wind farms"
Speaker bio
Morgan Gopnik, Environmental Consultant
Duke University
Talk:
"Integrating offshore renewable energy into a marine spatial planning framework"
Speaker bio
Gesche Krause, Social-ecological System Analyst
Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Bremen, Germany
Talk: "Global links and local roots: Current legal and policy developments in Europe on combining wind farms and aquaculture operations in the offshore realm"
Speaker bio
Hauke Kite-Powell, Research Specialist
Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Talk: "Economic implications of co-located offshore energy and aquaculture operations"
Speaker bio
1245-1330 LUNCH
1330-1500 Luncheon Session
Introduction
Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Director
Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
Professor, University of Rhode Island
Comments on the Rhode Island approach to marine zoning and introduction to the luncheon speaker
Stephen Olsen, Director
Coastal Resources Center
University of Rhode Island
Luncheon Speaker
Grover Fugate, Executive Director
Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council
Talk: "Marine Spatial Planning: The Rhode Island Experience"
Speaker bio
1500-1515 BREAK
1515-1800 Session 2: Innovations in Aquaculture Technologies Suitable for Integration with Offshore Energy Systems
Session Chair
Michael Rubino, Director
NOAA Aquaculture Program, NOAA Fisheries Service
Panelists
Thierry Chopin, Professor
University of New Brunswick
Saint John, Canada
Talk: "Let's not move just the fish to the open ocean ... an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) approach should not be an afterthought for 2050"
Speaker bio
Richard Langan, Director of Ocean and Coastal Technology Programs
University of New Hampshire
Talk: "Co-location of offshore energy and seafood production: Potential synergies, compatibilities, and conflicts"
Speaker bio
Stephen F. Cross, Associate Professor and Director
Coastal Aquaculture Research & Training Network
University of Victoria, Canada
Talk: "Sustainable ecological aquaculture: Integrating alternative energy to coastal food production systems"
Speaker bio
Steve Page, President
Ocean Farm Technologies, Inc.
Searsmont, Maine
Talk: "Reducing risks associated with open-ocean aquaculture"
Speaker bio
Chris Bridger, General Manager
Aquaculture Engineering Group Inc.
St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada
Talk: "Technology and operational integration considerations for open-ocean wind-fish farms"
1800-2000 Social Hour (Cash Bar)
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
0700-0830 Breakfast
0830-0930 Welcome, Introductions, and Comments
Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Director
Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
Professor, University of Rhode Island
Michael M. Tikoian, Chairman
R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council
Honorable Donald L. Carcieri, Governor
State of Rhode Island
Leon Cammen, Director
NOAA National Sea Grant College Program
0930-1200: Session 3: Designing and Managing Offshore Structures to Enhance Coastal Habitats, Fishing, and Alternative Livelihoods
Session Co-Chairs
Edward Chesney, Associate Professor
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
Talk: "Perspectives on the placement of man-made structures in the coastal zone: Their roles as fishing sites and fish habitat"
Speaker bio
Charles Yarish, Professor
University of Connecticut Stamford
Panelists
Mark Drawbridge, Senior Research Biologist
Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
San Diego, California
Talk: "Offshore structures and aquaculture: A California perspective"
Speaker bio
Daniel Cohen, President
Fishermen’s Energy, New Jersey
Talk: "Harvesting the wind and harvesting the sea, side by side"
Speaker bio
Sebastian Belle, Executive Director
Maine Aquaculture Association
Talk: "Co-location of renewable energy and aquaculture: What is it going to take from the perspective of the private sector?"
Speaker bio
Mark J. Spalding, President
The Ocean Foundation
Talk: "Marine spatial planning: Putting offshore alternative energy in its place"
Speaker bio
Mitchell T. Baer, Director
Office of Policy and International Affairs
U.S. Department of Energy
Talk: "Hurdles to a renewable energy future"
Speaker bio
1200-1500 LUNCH BREAK
Welcome and Introductions
Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Director & Professor
Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
University of Rhode Island
1330-1500 Lunch Speaker
Willett M. Kempton, Director
Center for Carbon-free Power Integration, and Professor, College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment University of Delaware
Talk: "Tapping the Northeast's Large-scale Carbon-free Power Resource: How will the system work?
Speaker bio
1500-1800: Session 3 (continued): Designing and Managing Offshore Structures to Enhance Coastal Habitats, Fishing, and Alternative Livelihoods
Panelists
Donna Schroeder, Marine Biologist
Minerals Management Service
Talk: "What can oil platform studies tell us about the potential ecological consequences of offshore renewable energy?"
Speaker bio
Andrew Gill, Senior Lecturer
School of Applied Sciences,
Cranfield University, U.K.
Talk: "On understanding the ecological implications of offshore renewable energy developments: A view from Europe"
Speaker bio
Dan Sheehy, President
Aquabio, Inc.
Arlington, Massachusetts
Talk: "Constructed reefs for mitigation and fishery enhancement in marine wind farm development"
Speaker bio
John B. Richards, Marine Extension Advisor Emeritus
Sea Grant Extension Program
University of California, Davis
Talk: "Shellfish harvesting as a biofouling control strategy on offshore oil and gas platforms: Development of a profitable, symbiotic marine business in southern California"
Speaker bio
1830 Symposium Dinner
Introduction
Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Director
Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
Professor, University of Rhode Island
Dinner Speaker
Charles Peterson , Alumni Distinguished Professor
Institute for Marine Sciences
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Talk: "Spatially explicit ecosystem-based management of wind farm development to minimize use conflicts and maximize energy production and ecological synergies: A North Carolina example for Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and the coastal ocean"
Speaker bio
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
0700-0830 Breakfast
0845-1200 Summary Discussion of the Meeting with Discussion of Regional Needs on Knowledge Transfer, Mitigating Impacts, and Future Uses of Windpower Areas
Sponsored by the Gulf of Maine Regional Ocean Science Initiative and Rhode Island Sea Grant
Participants are encouraged to join this discussion to highlight issues of concern in Rhode Island and the Northeast related to offshore alternative energy developments and their potential impacts on ocean ecosystems, communities, and coastal economies. Results of this discussion will be taken into consideration in the development of the R.I. Ocean Special Area Management Plan's chapter on future uses. In this session we will begin by identifying three to four questions to frame the subsequent discussion. Suggestions: What are the major management issues, and what management tools are needed to support decision-making? Where will regional cooperation be needed, what parties will need to be involved, and what are the key elements to success for regional partnerships?
Facilitators
Judy Pederson, Outreach Leader
MIT Sea Grant College Program
Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Director
Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program
Professor, University of Rhode Island
1200 Adjourn
Location
Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, Newport, R.I.
The symposium is being held at the Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, where a block of rooms has been set aside for symposium participants. Participants must make arrangements for accommodations directly with the hotel, using the code "0911SEAGRANT."
Newport has a colorful colonial and seafaring past. Founded in 1639 by settlers seeking religious freedom, Newport was the first major seaport on the East Coast, and later home to the fabled "summer cottages" of the Gilded Age. Newport hosts a wide array of shopping, dining, and sight-seeing opportunities. For more information on the city, visit:
Contact
For more information, contact Tracy Kennedy at (401) 874-6800 or tkennedy@gso.uri.edu. |
