Articles | Volume 13, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2593-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2593-2016
Research article
 | 
02 May 2016
Research article |  | 02 May 2016

Potential environmental impact of tidal energy extraction in the Pentland Firth at large spatial scales: results of a biogeochemical model

Johan van der Molen, Piet Ruardij, and Naomi Greenwood

Related authors

Imminent reversal of the residual flow through the Marsdiep tidal inlet into the Dutch Wadden Sea based on multiyear ferry-borne acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) observations
Johan van der Molen, Sjoerd Groeskamp, and Leo R. M. Maas
Ocean Sci., 18, 1805–1816, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1805-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/os-18-1805-2022, 2022
Short summary
Effects of large-scale floating (solar photovoltaic) platforms on hydrodynamics and primary production in a coastal sea from a water column model
Thodoris Karpouzoglou, Brigitte Vlaswinkel, and Johan van der Molen
Ocean Sci., 16, 195–208, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-195-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/os-16-195-2020, 2020
Short summary
Modelling potential production of macroalgae farms in UK and Dutch coastal waters
Johan van der Molen, Piet Ruardij, Karen Mooney, Philip Kerrison, Nessa E. O'Connor, Emma Gorman, Klaas Timmermans, Serena Wright, Maeve Kelly, Adam D. Hughes, and Elisa Capuzzo
Biogeosciences, 15, 1123–1147, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1123-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-1123-2018, 2018
Short summary
Observing and modelling phytoplankton community structure in the North Sea
David A. Ford, Johan van der Molen, Kieran Hyder, John Bacon, Rosa Barciela, Veronique Creach, Robert McEwan, Piet Ruardij, and Rodney Forster
Biogeosciences, 14, 1419–1444, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1419-2017,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-1419-2017, 2017
Short summary
ERSEM 15.06: a generic model for marine biogeochemistry and the ecosystem dynamics of the lower trophic levels
Momme Butenschön, James Clark, John N. Aldridge, Julian Icarus Allen, Yuri Artioli, Jeremy Blackford, Jorn Bruggeman, Pierre Cazenave, Stefano Ciavatta, Susan Kay, Gennadi Lessin, Sonja van Leeuwen, Johan van der Molen, Lee de Mora, Luca Polimene, Sevrine Sailley, Nicholas Stephens, and Ricardo Torres
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1293–1339, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1293-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1293-2016, 2016
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Modelling, Aquatic
Investigating ecosystem connections in the shelf sea environment using complex networks
Ieuan Higgs, Jozef Skákala, Ross Bannister, Alberto Carrassi, and Stefano Ciavatta
Biogeosciences, 21, 731–746, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-731-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-731-2024, 2024
Short summary
Seasonal and interannual variability of the pelagic ecosystem and of the organic carbon budget in the Rhodes Gyre (eastern Mediterranean): influence of winter mixing
Joelle Habib, Caroline Ulses, Claude Estournel, Milad Fakhri, Patrick Marsaleix, Mireille Pujo-Pay, Marine Fourrier, Laurent Coppola, Alexandre Mignot, Laurent Mortier, and Pascal Conan
Biogeosciences, 20, 3203–3228, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3203-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3203-2023, 2023
Short summary
Killing the predator: impacts of top predator mortality on global-ocean ecosystem structure
David Talmy, Eric Carr, Harshana Rajakaruna, Selina Vage, and Anne Willem-Omta
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-120,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-120, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for BG
Short summary
Validation of the coupled physical-biogeochemical ocean model NEMO-SCOBI for the North Sea-Baltic Sea system
Itzel Ruvalcaba Baroni, Elin Almroth-Rosell, Lars Axell, Sam T. Fredriksson, Jenny Hieronymus, Magnus Hieronymus, Sandra-Esther Brunnabend, Matthias Gröger, and Lars Arneborg
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-116,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2023-116, 2023
Revised manuscript accepted for BG
Short summary
How much do bacterial growth properties and biodegradable dissolved organic matter control water quality at low flow?
Masihullah Hasanyar, Thomas Romary, Shuaitao Wang, and Nicolas Flipo
Biogeosciences, 20, 1621–1633, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1621-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1621-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Ahmadian, R. and Falconer, R. A.: Assessment of array shape of tidal stream turbines on hydro-environmental impacts and power output, Renew. Energ., 44, 318–327, 2012.
Aldridge, J., van der Molen, J., and Forster, R.: Wider ecological implications of Macroalgae cultivation, The Crown Estate, Edinburgh, London, ISBN 978-1-906410-38-4, 95 pp., 2012.
Balmaseda, M. A., Mogensen, K., and Weaver, A.: Evaluation of the ECMWF Ocean Reanalysis ORAS4, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 139, 1132–1161, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2063, 2013.
Baretta, J. W., Ebenhöh, W., and Ruardij, P.: The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model, a complex marine ecosystem model, Neth. J. Sea Res., 33, 233–246, 1995.
Boehlert, G. and Gill, A.: Environmental and ecological effects of ocean renewable energy development: A current synthesis, Oceanography, 23, 68–81, 2010.
Download
Short summary
The potential large-scale (> 100 km) effects of marine renewable tidal energy generation in the Pentland Firth were studied using a 3-D hydrodynamics–biogeochemistry model. A realistic 800 MW scenario suggested minor effects on tides and biogeochemistry. A massive-expansion 8 GW scenario suggested effects over hundreds of kilometres away with changes of up to 10 % in tidal and ecosystem variables, the latter through clearer waters and increased primary production with associated increases in fauna.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint