TY - THES
TI - EU offshore wind farms coexistence with other marine activities
AU - Gotziou, M
AB - At the present time, at the top of the list of the world's greatest threats to humanity is one of the major environmental issues that concern the word leaders who should cooperate with all sectors of our society, which is climate change. Consequently its effects, extreme weather and the threat of flora and fauna, as well as many others, are reasons to take drastic measures to protect our environment. According to the IPCC, emissions during the last century have increased dramatically, principally threatening human life, deteriorating the quality of air, subsequently the survival of rare species of animals and plants, and the ecosystem in general. As the most internationally recognized wind energy in the field of renewables holds one of the leading positions, OWE potential is more exploited in the specific sea basins, which are North, Baltic and Eastern Sea. However, the allocation of inland space for additional installation of OWF technologies has been a challenge for many coastal countries, as it is already limited by existing OWFs and in conclusion access to land is limited. In addition, due to the prevailing offshore wind regimes, offshore areas are preferable providing better conditions for wind energy utilization. In particular, in the aforementioned sea basins, the restriction of space creates conflicts of interest between OWF developers with fishing, navigational shipping and other OREIs. Historically speaking, the exploitation of the sea shelf by anchors reaching a depth of more than 200 meters has already had serious repercussions on the marine ecosystem. On top of that, innovative activities such as OREIs, recreational activities, marine shellfish cultivation have negative effects as well. Needless to say, traditional activities that burden the marine environment are fishing and navigation. Contrary to what we have said, with a more in-depth look, this riparian environment can offer a fair range of developments. To give an illustration, under innovative trade-offs with ecological and technical character, offshore wind turbine designations with the aim to biodiversity (seagrass beds for carbonate sediment production by phytoplankton and fish settlements). Regarding this vision to design coastal infrastructure, it offers an ideal perspective of reducing the risk of conflicts, while pressing groups and actors exploit the same area, but that does not necessarily mean that one will exclude the other. In closing, contemporary challenges in the maritime area are addressed by taking measures for an adequate spatial planning, covering the interests of antitrust operators having jurisdiction over the territorial waters, and using similar nature-based tools. These measures must, therefore, be taken in the form of communication procedures, information exchange and liaison between different levels of society, with a kind of spatial scale, which has transnational dimensions beyond borders.
DA - 2020/06//
PY - 2020
PB - European Union (EU)
UR - https://repository.ihu.edu.gr//xmlui/handle/11544/29513
LA - English
M3 - Master's Thesis
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Human Dimensions
KW - Marine Spatial Planning
ER -