First
textbook in marine renewable energy explores harnessing ocean power
Offshore renewable energy is an
emerging and rapidly growing industry in the United States and around the
world. With projects in motion to install approximately 24 gigawatts of proposed capacity for offshore wind energy in the U.S., the ocean presents the next vast and largely untapped renewable energy resource that could be harnessed to help meet the world’s growing demand for electricity.
“Fundamentals of Ocean Renewable Energy: Generating Electricity
from the Sea,” written by M. Reza Hashemi, assistant professor in
the Department of Ocean Engineering and Graduate School of Oceanography at the
University of Rhode Island, in collaboration with Simon Neill, a reader in
physical oceanography in the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University in
Wales, U.K., is the first textbook of its kind on ocean energy.
“With the recent investments in
academic and industrial research for the development of tidal, wave, offshore
wind and other ocean renewable energy projects, the time was right for such a
textbook,” said Hashemi.
“There is an enormous untapped energy resource in the ocean with the potential to increase our energy independence and reduce our impact on the environment.
“There is an enormous untapped energy resource in the ocean with the potential to increase our energy independence and reduce our impact on the environment.
“Over the past several years, great strides have been made in developing onshore wind and solar energy as ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. In the Northeast – and particularly in Rhode Island – we are uniquely positioned to do the same as it relates to offshore renewable energy. Our proximity to the first U.S. offshore wind farm off Block Island, our strong connections to the marine industry, and URI’s own respected programs in the College of Engineering and Graduate School of Oceanography make us an ideal place to invest more in education and research in this area.”
In addition to this new 336-page
textbook, Hashemi has published more than 35 peer-reviewed journal articles,
primarily focused on ocean renewable energy and coastal engineering. His
research focuses on ocean physics, mostly related to ocean renewable energy and
coastal resilience (e.g. flooding and erosion).
In addition, he has developed/co-developed and taught several undergraduate and graduate courses about renewable energy, including “Ocean Renewable Energy” and “Energy and the Environment,” at URI. Part of the motivation behind this book sprang from his desire to provide a textbook for these courses.
In addition, he has developed/co-developed and taught several undergraduate and graduate courses about renewable energy, including “Ocean Renewable Energy” and “Energy and the Environment,” at URI. Part of the motivation behind this book sprang from his desire to provide a textbook for these courses.
Published by Academic Press
Elsevier, the book covers a range of ocean renewable energy topics. It presents
the fundamental physics and theory behind ocean energy systems, covering both
oceanographic and engineering aspects of ocean energy, and explores the most
widely adopted conversion technologies, including tidal, wave, offshore wind,
ocean thermal and currents.