California Sea Grant College Program

Climate change and soaring energy costs have fueled attention to renewable energy. In coastal areas, the potential to harness the clean power of offshore wind, wave, and tide is irresistible. Our extensive coasts and oceans offer what appears at first glance to be virgin territory for development of energy producing facilities. A closer look,however, reveals that these areas are teeming with productive activity, activity that cannot be ignored in planning and implementing marine renewable energy (MRE) development and production.