Offshore wave energy generation devices: Impacts on ocean bio-environment

As the crisis of petroleum-based energy is aggravating and the carbon emission is elevating, the search and exploitation of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and oceanic powers, are of global interest and underway in some developed countries. In western countries pioneering the oceanic energy utilization, wave is currently an attractive energy source due to the predictability and the ease to be absorbed into power grid. As wave-energy generators (WEGs) and the associated devices interact with the surrounding environment, they would have impacts on the biological components within the ecosystem in the vicinity of WEGs. However, the environmental effects of offshore WEGs on local fauna and flora have yet to be evaluated in a comprehensive way. This article discusses several aspects, including influence of offshore WEGs on marine macrofaunal communities, interactions between offshore WEGs and biofouling organisms, impacts of offshore WEGs on marine birds and of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on marine animals as well as “artificial reef” effects. If precaution is taken with the planning and construction of offshore WEGs, and environmental monitoring is performed with operation of these devices, marine wave energy can become a desirable alternative to fossil fuels.