Brett Marmo, technical director of Xi Engineering, discusses using acoustics simulation to analyse the impact of tidal turbines on harbor seals.

Creating clean energy alternatives for energy sources that generate greenhouse gas is crucial if we are to avoid excessive global heating and the rising climate crisis. A viable, renewable energy source are ocean tides, which, unlike solar and wind resources, are not weather dependent, making them predictable. Tidal energy can be harnessed by deploying tidal turbines into tidal streams. This process is the foundation of the MeyGen project, a massive renewable energy project that is planned to be the world’s largest tidal energy plant. Recently, an array of tidal turbines has been deployed at this project site, where tides flowing between the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea are funnelled into a high-energy stream between mainland Scotland and the Island of Stroma.

A Goldilocks Approach to Tidal Turbine Design

While curbing greenhouse gas emissions...