SEPTEMBER 2022

TRITON STORY ON MARINE ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY 

The three pillars of sustainability and sustainable energy applied to marine energy from Amerson et al., 2022. (Illustration by Stephanie King | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

What does it mean for marine energy to truly be sustainable? The concept of sustainability refers to the ability of humans and nature to coexist now and in the future while supporting a healthy society, economy, and environment. Triton's research aims to build knowledge around possible environmental impacts to proactively address potential harm to animals and/or habitats once marine energy systems are deployed; however, sustainability considerations extend beyond the direct effects of a marine energy device. In collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) sustainability engineers, Triton published a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering to include considerations for spatial and temporal planning considerations for monitoring, communication, and outreach efforts to bolster impact, marine energy sustainability, and life cycle assessment next steps. Read more.

FIELD NOTES

As the summer comes to a close, the Triton team has been reflecting on sunny days spent on the water conducting environmental monitoring fieldwork. From the tidal channel in Sequim Bay, Washington, to the teal blue coast of La Jolla, California, and the salty waters in between, Triton researchers have conducted many tests in the past year. These have included field deployments of environmental monitoring technologies for the Triton Field Trials, prototype testing for the Marine Wildlife Detection and Tracking, Flow Noise Mitigation projects, and sensor research at the BioSonics, Inc. headquarters. Check out this highlight video from the archives featuring Triton’s exciting changes in habitat fieldwork at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography off the coast of San Diego, California. Watch more videos highlighting Triton fieldwork here! 

SPOTLIGHT ON RACHAEL GALLODORO

Triton recently welcomed Rachael Gallodoro to the team! Rachael has a background in marketing and communications, government policy, and social media. Her most recent experience was in corporate communications within the marine transportation industry and strategic consulting in the start-up world. She was brought on to the Triton team to support the project’s communication and outreach efforts by researching new ways to drive engagement and connecting the mission of the Triton Initiative with established and new stakeholders alike. Welcome to the team, Rachael!

TRITON NEWS

University Marine Energy Research Community Survey 2022

Calling all marine energy researchers, engineers, developers, students, and policy-makers! Help the University Marine Energy Research Community understand the US marine energy innovation ecosystem. The UMERC Annual Survey 2022 is now live. The purpose of this survey is to understand how foundational research for marine energy in the United States can be supported and integrated into the needs for the marine energy sector. Your opinion is important and it could help shape the future of funding and research in the marine energy sector. The survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. All of the information that you share will be treated confidentially. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this survey, please contact Shana Hirsch at slhirsch@uw.edu.

Ocean Energy Week 2022

The Pacific Ocean Energy Trust Ocean Energy Week 2022 is coming up! This event includes the Ocean Renewable Energy Conference and University Marine Energy Research Community and the Marine Energy Technology Symposium. Triton researchers and partners will be presenting marine energy environmental monitoring research on Wednesday, September 13, in Session 6 - Environmental at 1:30 PST. Check out the following talks:

• Quantitative Evaluation of Four Flow Shield Designs with Triton Ocean Engineer Emma Cotter, PNNL
• Drifting Acoustic Measurements of Tidal Turbine Radiated Noise in an Urban Waterway with Lindsey Jones, University of Washington
• Taking a Broader Look at Environmental and Ecological Effects of Marine Energy Development with benthic ecologist Lenaig Hemery, PNNL
• Acoustic Characterization around the CalWave Wave Energy Converter with Kaus Raghukumar, Integral Consulting

Attending either of the conferences? Connect with us at TritonMRE@pnnl.gov.

Triton Talks Webinar Series Playlist

On September 1, the Triton team held the last of the Triton Field Trials series of Triton Talks with a presentation on changes in habitat research with Lenaig Hemery, as well as marine energy sustainability with Cailene Gunn and Tyler Harris. The team extends sincere thanks to all attendees who joined the sessions in this series and engaged in vibrant conversations about diverse environmental monitoring topics.

If you missed any of the webinars or would like to access the recordings, they are all available on the Triton Talks YouTube playlist.

If you have any feedback, questions, or thoughts on the Triton Talks webinar series, please consider taking this survey to help us improve future webinars and cover topics you are interested in!

ASK A RESEARCHER

Ask a Researcher is a new way to engage with the Triton team! This is your opportunity to ask us questions and provide feedback. Our team may share responses to your questions in the newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter and keep your eyes peeled for answers to your questions. Submit your questions here.

IN OTHER ENERGY NEWS

OES-Environmental will host a public webinar, “From Science to Consenting: OES-Environmental 2022 Highlights”, from 8:00-9:00 a.m. PT (3:00-4:00 p.m. UTC) on Thursday, September 22, 2022. During this webinar the OES-Environmental team will provide updates on risk retirement, guidance documents, and outreach and engagement efforts, and will also detail current focus areas for OES-Environmental research. Register here.

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Triton is designed to support the development and testing of more precise and cost-effective environmental monitoring technologies for marine energy. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads Triton on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office.

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