Blog: Scottish marine mission to Canada

EMEC’s Research Director, Jennifer Norris, was in Canada last week as part of a marine mission focusing on international opportunities for organisations operating in the marine energy industry. Organised by The Canadian High Commission to the UK, Scottish Development International and the British High Commission in Canada, the mission included various site visits, networking sessions, and workshops looking at partnership opportunities between Scotland and Canada.

Jennifer was invited to speak at a Research Forum about EMEC’s research agenda and the incentives and drivers behind it. She explained that the emphasis of the EMEC research agenda is driven primarily by ‘generic’ industry needs. At present, this still centres on the need to understand more about the extent of any potential effects or impacts that marine energy devices may have on the marine environment and species living in it. She also summarised the research and environmental monitoring projects ongoing at EMEC: see site specific projects, national projects and international projects for more details.

Whilst in Canada, Jennifer also attended OREG 2012 (Ocean Energy Renewable Group’s annual event) held in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the launch of the Acadia Tidal Energy Institute – the only research institute in North America focused solely on assessing tidal energy resources and the associated environmental challenges and socio-economic opportunities.

Jennifer was encouraged by the positive atmosphere at all events, with a determination to progress on some of the unknown issues: “The emphasis is very much on collaboration between the two nations. EMEC’s expertise is well recognised in Canada, and I was involved in many discussions on how we can work more closely together on various research projects, including environmental monitoring. There is no point in reinventing the wheel, so it makes sense for Canada to make use of the learning that has been done at EMEC over the years.”