Renewable energies on coastal environment and development: what is challenging Italy?

Rome, 12 March

Marine energy – in particular wave and tidal generated electricity – is exiting the research and development stage and entering the operational, pre-commercial phase, the deployment of full-scale prototypes in the real-sea environment being already underway. Although in Europe the availability of marine energy resources is highest along the Atlantic coast, it has been recognized that the Mediterranean Sea offers substantial opportunities for both significant energy production and technological development. The latter is mainly favoured by the specific characteristics of such basin, where milder climatic conditions allow the affordable testing of devices and stimulate the design of particularly efficient technologies for energy harvesting. Moreover, the accentuated vulnerability of the Mediterranean environment demands consequential efforts to be undertaken in order to promote the development of innovative technologies capable of supporting the energy independence and sustainability of particularly exposed habitats, ecosystems and social communities, such as those located in small isolated islands, thus providing new adaptation/mitigation options to the Earth’s changing climate as well as new solution for pollution reduction. In the ocean energy sector, Italy has made great steps forward in both research and device implementation, and it has by now acquired a prominent position among the international insiders. Targeted policy interventions and investment would now fully disclose the potential offered by the ocean energy sector in terms of economic growth, high-skilled job creation and strategic positioning of the Italian industry in the competitive global market. By leveraging on the vitality and creativity of a well-established community of actors from the public and the private sectors, such policies would support the upscaling of a variety of connected enterprises, sustaining product diversification and opening access to international visibility.   What Responsible Research and Innovation actions are needed to make renewable energies applicable and replicable in the coastal environment? You want to use your creative mind to develop solutions that best serve individual citizens, your local community and the European society at large. You want to make sure that your needs and expectations are taken into account when local, national and European decisions and innovations are being developed. GET STARTED! FOLLOW OUR WORKSHOP AND SHARE YOUR IDEAS ONLINE The workshop is organised according to the Science Café methodology by APRE - Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea. It will involve citizens, scientists, business representatives, entrepreneurs, local authorities and policymakers in an open dialogue. Together, you will define a common vision and a roadmap of solutions and actions to face this challenge. The results, together with the outcomes of the other MARINA workshops in Europe, will be freely accessible on the MARINA Web Knowledge Sharing Platform, used for identifying lessons learned and best practices and disseminated at European policy conferences. Location: CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Via dei Taurini, 19 Roma