IOC/WESTPAC Workshop on “Status on the Marine Renewable Energy Technology Development in the Western Pacific”, Melaka, Malaysia, 16-18 February 2012
As the global economy has been booming, the world energy consumption is always on the rise. Over past centuries, non-renewable/fossil energy, being the primary type of energies, has been widely explored, exploited and utilized at every corner of the world. Several studies have predicted that if we continue consuming those non-renewable energy at the current rate, some of these energy sources will be exhausted within a century or if not a few decades. In addition, the consumption of these non-renewable energy sources undoubtedly releases green house gas, like carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which not only leads to the air pollution, but also aggravates the trend of global warming. Therefore, it becomes essential to seek alternative renewable and environment-friendly energy sources.
The ocean covering more than 70% of our planet not only provide huge amount of protein to sustain people’s lives, but also remains a great potential for renewable energy due to its non-stop movement, thermal and salinity gradient. Moreover marine renewable energy could play a fundamental role in reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. If properly exploited, these environmental friendly resources can contribute towards meeting the increasing global energy demand. Currently, only offshore wind energy has reached an acceptable level of development to be considered competitive. However, there are other less developed technologies that obtain energy from the seas and oceans, including wave and tidal energy, energy from currents, ocean thermal energy and salinity gradient energy.
To underline this potential of marine renewable energy, a number of initiatives are being pursued by various governments, particularly of these technologically advanced countries in Europe and North America. However, In the Western Pacific region, the level of research and development on marine renewable energy remains low in most of member states.
This workshop aims at bringing regional experts together, promoting the research & development of marine renewable technology by facilitating the establishment of research & development network, assessing the current level of research, development and implementation of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies, sharing the world best practice and further identify the pilot projects among member states in this field.
For more information, please download the annoucement of the workshop and brochure.