Ecofish Research Ltd., a Trinity Consultants Team’s Post

If you're at the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting this week, be sure to catch Principal Engineer Sterling Watson's talk tomorrow, September 17, from 8:45-9:00 am. Sterling will present on "Hydropower Turbine Innovation at the Intersection of Science, Policy, and Engineering," as part of the "Partnering for Innovation and Fish Protection in the Clean Energy Transition" session, organized by Brian Bellgraph and Alison Colotelo from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Dana McCoskey of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The session will run all day long tomorrow in room 325AB and will explore how collaborations between diverse stakeholders are essential for balancing renewable energy development with ecosystem protection. Sterling’s presentation will focus on: 🤝 How interdisciplinary partnerships between science, policy, and engineering teams are key to developing and implementing FishSafe turbine technology. 📊 The role of fish passage data in improving hydropower operations while protecting aquatic species like salmonids, eel, and sturgeon. 🏛 The importance of regulatory flexibility and collaboration to support the adoption of innovative solutions in hydropower. 🐟 Real-world examples of fish passage survival rates between 98-100% with Natel’s FishSafe RHT designs. Sterling’s talk will provide an optimistic view of how innovation and cooperation can deliver better outcomes for both energy and the environment. Don’t miss it! And keep an eye out for Natel co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Abe Schneider, who is also in Honolulu this week. #fisheries #hydropower #fishpassage #innovation #engineering #cooperation #partnership #fishsafe #sustainability #freshwater

Very interesting paper on LCA of multi-use offshore farm 👇

New multi-use publication out, with many thanks to Laura Vittoria De Luca, Bilge Bas, Jo Dewulf and Sue Ellen Taelman for leading this LCA study. . It is unclear what the environmental impact of maritime multi-use is, from a life-cycle perspective, where there is potential to create synergies in the value chains, and how similar the impact compares to currently used alternatives. Therefore, this study performs a Life Cycle Assessment on a combination of a full scale existing wind energy farm and a mussel farm design. Mainly the supply chain of materials required to manufacture its components followed by the operational activities of the multi-use offshore farm contribute to the environmental footprint. Moreover, taking advantage of joint activities, i.e. combined transport between the wind and mussel farm during operational activities (Scenario 1) and at decommissioning phase (Scenario 2) did not show a significant reduction in the overall net impacts of a multi-use farm. interesting for ULTFARMS?

Alignment continues against the Cuffs Run hydroelectric project in environmental partnership as well with Susquehanna National Heritage Area, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, FARM & NATURAL LAND TRUST OF YORK COUNTY and Chesapeake Bay Foundation co-signing a legal protest: Objections stated in the filing include: – Negative impacts on surface water, groundwater, wildlife habitat, threatened and endangered species, farmland, forests and outdoor recreation – Concerns about developer York Energy Storage’s lack of investors and doubts about the company’s ability to cover the cost of the four years worth of impact studies requested in the permit application – Assertions that York Energy Storage’s $10.8 million cost estimate for the impact studies is 16% too low and that a more accurate cost estimate would be $12.55 million – Claims that other renewable energy projects will prove more attractive to investors – Arguments that the community should not have to face repeated preliminary permit applications for the same project.” This is the fourth, dating back to the 1990s. https://lnkd.in/dsdhN28Z

Join us for a webinar on river connectivity this Wednesday, July 31, from 2-4 pm ET, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office as part of the 2024 Hydropower Environmental and Industry R&D Summit Talks! ⚡💧 As we accelerate the global shift towards low-carbon energy sources, hydropower remains a cornerstone of renewable power. At the same time, maintaining river ecology and protecting aquatic life are essential. The packed agenda includes speakers from industry, research, and government discussing the current challenges and state of the science around river connectivity in the US. Natel CTO Abe Schneider will explore how Natel's high-performance FishSafe turbine designs ensure safe downstream passage for fish, achieving 98-100% survival rates while efficiently producing power. The webinar agenda includes these standout speakers: 🐟 WPTO Portfolio and River Connectivity – Dana McCoskey, DOE-WPTO 🐟 NOAA Fisheries Technological and Scientific Needs – Bjorn Lake, NOAA Fisheries 🐟 Implementation Plan for Salmon Reintroduction – Laura Robinson, Executive MPA, Upper Columbia United Tribes 🐟 Trap and Downstream Transport of American eels – David Stanley, Ontario Power Generation 🐟 Turbines Designed for Safe Downstream Fish Passage – Abe Schneider, Natel Energy 🐟 Lateral Connectivity in Rivers Systems – Erich Hester, DOE-WPTO 🐟 Regional Planning with Hydropower – Vishvas Chalishazar, Ph.D., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 🐟 Environmental Decision Support Toolkit – Esther S. Parish, Oak Ridge National Laboratory 🔗 Register now to learn about cutting-edge science and solutions to improve river connectivity and hydropower: https://lnkd.in/gmtsX2r4 #hydropower #renewableenergy #riverconnectivity #riverrestoration #rishpassage #fishsafe #rivers #eel #salmon

I am happy to anounce that our new publication is now available online. Multi-use offshore farms have the potential to address marine space limitations and stimulate collaborations and new economic opportunities. However, its environmental impacts are not yet well understood. This study aims to quantify the potential environmental impacts a multi-use offshore farm, which combines an offshore wind farm and a mussel farm, by performing a Life Cycle Assessment. This research forms part of the SUMES project. Thanks very much to all the co-authors. This work would not have been possible without the hard work and contributions of Bilge Baş Sue Ellen Taelman Sander van den Burg Jo Dewulf. #Sustainability #BlueEconomy #Multiuse #LifeCycleAssessment

Looking forward to presenting on instream flows and fish passage at #HydroVision today!

Spain approves rules for floating solar installations on reservoirs: Floating solar panels will be allowed to cover between 5% and 15% of the total surface area of reservoirs in the public water domain in Spain, according to new regulation approved by the Spanish government on Tuesday. The size of the arrays will be determined by the trophic state of the reservoir -- the worse the quality of its waters, the greater its coverage can be, the Spanish ministry for the ecological transition said after the approval of the new royal decree on the requirements for installing floating solar panels. A 15% coverage is allowed in the case of eutrophic reservoirs, distinguished by high biological productivity, or those at risk of eutrophication. This is down from 20% proposed in the draft royal decree two years ago. When it comes to non-eutrophic reservoirs, the maximum percentage of total covered surface is limited to 5%. In any case, these limits may be reduced depending on the operating regime or pre-existing uses and rights, among others, the ministry said. Floating solar farms cannot be installed on lakes, lagoons or other water bodies that are not considered highly modified or artificial. The ban also applies to surfaces that are highly modified or artificial, but enjoy some form of environmental protection. https://lnkd.in/gFkYzNwg

EIA is intended to identify the impacts (both beneficial and adverse) of a proposed public and private development activities. Often, the focus is dominantly environmental (biophysical); but good practice also addresses social and economic aspects. EIA is mainly used at the level of specific developments and projects such as dams, industrial plants, transport infrastructure (eg airport runways and roads), farm enterprises, natural resource exploitation (eg sand extraction). Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a sister tool applied upstream at the level of policies, plans and programmes. Like SEA, EIA is most valuable when applied early in the planning process for a project as a support to decisionmaking. It provides a means to identify the most environmentally suitable option at an early stage, the best practicable environmental option, and alternatives to the proposed initiative; and thus avoid or minimise potentially damaging and costly negative impacts, and maximise positive impacts.  I am very happy to complete this is short course😊, and thank you to en.Mohammed Elfatih🙏 and l hope reading more and more about that. 

Nature-Inclusive Design for Offshore Wind Projects   🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) has just published a report based on research into integrating #wildlife inclusive concepts into offshore #windfarm development.  This work has been supported by the Collaboration for Environmental Mitigation & Nature Inclusive Design (CEMNID) project to minimise the #eviromentalimpact caused by the development of #offshorewind farms. 🌬   🔍 The report presents #developers with many ideas to implement to the design of offshore wind farms. Some of the initiatives are the following:   -     🐟  Fish Hotels: Structures providing shelter to #marinelife. -      Reef-Type Structures: #Artificialreefs to enhance marine #biodiversity. -      Adaptable Rock Protection Measures: Innovative techniques to protect #seabeds.   🐦 Another important topic that the report highlights is the importance of understanding the impact that developments may have towards #birdcolonies and possible layout techniques and blade placement to minimise negative externalities and better increase the odds of project approval.     You can read the full report below: ⬇ https://lnkd.in/dEgxU48Y #OffshoreWindEnergy #SustainableDevelopment #MarineConservation #RenewableEnergy #GreenTechnology #CleanEnergy