Will ocean energy harm marine ecosystems?
Book chapter, 2014
Human activity tends to excavate the natural capital and degrade the ecosystem
services on which civilization depends. For long-term sustainability a more proactive
resource management is needed.1 Since natural and social systems are complex,
environmental impacts of new technologies can be very difficult to predict
beforehand, but once technical systems have spread and have become widely
accepted they tend to be hard to control. Will ocean energy development be a
safe path towards sustainable power production, or will it inflict additional burden
on already deprived marine life? In this chapter it will be argued that the answer is
much dependent on adaptive engineering and prospective planning.