In addition to aspects of fish, pollution, and seascape management, the Blue Economy includes a number of oceanic sectors inlcuding marine living resources, marine non-living resources, marine renewable energy, port activities, shipbuilding and repair, maritime transport and coastal tourism.

Agriculture

Underwater Farming

Technology is helping to break physical barriers that once were insuperable. One notable example of this is underwater agriculture technology that aims to create an alternative system of farming, especially oriented to overcome harsh environmental conditions in those areas where growing crops is extremely difficult. There are very disruptive approaches to imagining the possibility of growing freshwater plants under the sea.

Nemo’ Garden project is changing the way farming is done. It aims to make underwater farming an economically viable and an alternative system of agriculture, especially in areas with extremely difficult environmental conditions. The project, built in the Italian north-western coast, consists of an underwater farm composed of air-filled transparent plastic pods, anchored to the bottom of the sea by chains and screws. Each pod holds approximately 2,000 thousand liters of air and floats at different depths, between 15 and 36 feet below the surface of the water so they are within the reach of sunlight, allowing the plants to thrive underwater.

Kelpwatch.org , a web tool harnesses the power of machine learning and innovative remote sensing science to analyze nearly 40 years of Landsat satellite data and interactively display kelp forest canopy. According to The Nature Conservancy, it is the world’s largest map of kelp forest canopy in both time and space extending from Baja California, Mexico, to the Oregon-Washington State border seasonally from 1984–2021.

Floating Farms

Floating farms regenerate the oceans while producing seaweed and shellfish sustainably. Floating farms are vertical 3D farms, that grow different sustainable food at various levels of the ocean; for example, seaweed mussels and scallops grow at the top of the water column, stacked above oysters and clams below. ( Green Matters, 2017 ) Floating farms produce high yields with a small carbon footprint, they require water and fertilizer. The crops grown also sequester carbon and rebuild coral reef ecosystems.

Lab Grown Seafood

Using a process called cellular aquaculture , seafood is being grown in labs, to replicate the real seafood as close as possible, this area is still young and not yet on commercial scale and the cost of growing sea food cells in the lab is high. The cells are carefully cultivated and fed a proprietary blend of liquid vitamins, amino acids, and sugars. The cells grow in broad sheets of muscle tissues that are fileted and sold, fresh or frozen or packaged into other types of seafood entrees ( NPR, 2019 )

Marine Pharmaceuticals

There is significant scope in using coastal and ocean flora and fauna to produce pharmaceuticals of the future. Traditionally, shark and cod liver oils, agar agar, analgesic agents, and other products have been sourced from the Blue resources. However, since so little is known about the ocean biota, especially micro-organisms, these are expected to hold tremendous potential for producing pharmaceuticals of the future.

Energy

Many marine energy applications are ideally suited to coastal development by offering relatively easy access for installation and operation and maintenance activities. There is growing interest across the blue economy in the promise of marine energy, ranging from micro-scale uses all the way to utility-scale power generation. Through continued collaboration and improvement of the enabling environment, all stakeholders in the ocean economy can work together to accelerate innovation and drive marine energy technologies forwards—perhaps even paving the way towards a truly “blue” economy in the process.

Marine energy is a class of renewable energy technologies that extract and convert the energy contained in the marine environment into useful mechanical or electrical energy, to pump water or power a grid. For example, energy can be harvested from waves, tides, ocean currents, or even from thermal and salinity gradients.

As the blue economy continues to grow, energy needs will continue to rise. Ocean-based clean energy technologies hold the greatest emissions potential of all ocean-based climate solutions , and energy solutions are often interwoven into other solutions. The 2020 report on Accelerating Energy Innovation for the Blue Economy by The Economist Intelligence Unit sheds light on enabling factors that can accelerate energy innovation for the blue economy and unlock promise of marine energy. However, critical barriers include, rapid testing of new technologies, policy and financing.

Through a high-level analysis of potential market opportunities, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) looked at the ability for new capabilities and economic development in marine energy. The WPTO final report, Powering the Blue Economy^TM: Exploring Opportunities for Marine Renewable Energy in Maritime Markets , seeks to understand the power requirements of emerging coastal and maritime markets and advance technologies that could integrate marine renewable energy to relieve these power constraints and promote economic growth. The report highlights a compelling set of following eight blue economy opportunities that could be supported by marine and hydrokinetic technologies: ocean observation ; underwater vehicle charging ; marine aquaculture ; marine algae ; seawater mining (power at sea) ; seawater desalination ; coastal resiliency and disaster recovery and isolated communities (resilient coastal communities) .

Publicly available market data and forecasts are incomplete to assess marine energy market potential. The eight different markets featured in the WPTO report range from existing robust markets through prospective future markets with significant activities in emerging markets, some of which marine energy could help enable. While various marine energy technologies have been developed over the years , most are focused on utility-scale opportunities for power generation and not necessarily suited to unique (and typically much smaller) power requirements of ocean observing systems. Future research will explore specific end-use cases within ocean observing for marine energy integration and work toward developing design requirements based on identified end-user needs.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

The small, fragmented, and remote nature of many islands (including SIDS) and many coastal areas presents a compelling argument for the exploitation of their ocean energy resource potential. The energy systems in these locations face challenges that include security of supply and access to modern, clean, and affordable energy. Ocean energy technologies are not widely known or understood in islands and remote coastal areas which may lead to lack of support and policies to facilitate their adoption. Furthermore, the emerging nature of ocean energy technologies threatens investors’ confidence and raises questions about the bankability of the projects and the capability of the devices to stand the extreme weather conditions and natural hazards present around small islands and remote coastal areas.

Nevertheless, marine energy technologies offer the possibility to serve as a supply of power during emergency responses, integrate the local communities and their needs in the design and scope of the projects as well as develop local skills and a local supply chain. Potential challenges to the adoption of ocean energy technologies in these markets include socio-environmental issues such as misinformation and social acceptance, regulatory and political barriers. To overcome some of these challenges, the Ocean Energy Systems report discusses opportunities to enable the integration of ocean energy technologies into the energy systems in islands and remote coastal areas and create synergies between the economic and energy sectors.

Offshore Energy Production

Energy production is going offshore due to limited space in urban areas and the prohibitive cost of property values. The types of energy produced offshore are waves, tides, solar, wind, salinity and thermal.

Eco Wave Power (EWP) is a Swedish company, founded in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2011. EWP developed an innovative technology for production of clean electricity from ocean and sea waves which is easy to build and operate.

Floating Solar

Oceans receive a significant amount of sunlight as it covers 70 percent of the earth's surface. Offshore solar was limited to small scale versions floating solar in the Maldives as shown in the nearby figure.

In 2021, Singapore in 2021 has introduced the first offshore floating solar plant in the Straits of Johor with a 5 MW plant as shown in the video below.

The Renewable Energy Zoning (REZoning) Tool

New diagnostic and analytic tools are being developed. The following one has been developed by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) in partnership with the University of California Santa Barbara's (UCSB), inspired by and based off Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's and the UCSB’s platform Multi-criteria Analysis for Planning Renewable Energy (MapRE).

The Renewable Energy Zoning (REZoning) tool is an interactive, web-based platform designed to identify, visualize, and rank zones that are most suitable for the development of offshore wind projects. The tool brings together spatial analysis and economic calculations into an online, user-friendly environment that allows users and decision makers to obtain insights into the technical and economic potential of renewable energy resources for all countries

Offshore Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) can generate energy in the tropical climate by using the temperature differences between surface and deep ocean water. The required temperature difference to generate power is at least 20°C. Although there are no currently operational plants, a Hawaiian plant is the largest operation facility that produces 100 kW and is connected to the grid system.

The video shown below describes how the OTEC system operates.

Wave Power

Ocean waves are generated from wind and seawater interactions that increase as they propagate. The potential energy from waves has been estimated to be 100-1500 TWh. Although wave energy converters were first conceived around 1799, the industry is still in its infancy. Currently, several types of technology are being tested since manufacturers have not developed a technology that generates commercially viable electricity.

The current challenges facing the industry are explained further in this nearby video.

Osmotic Power

Osmotic power occurs in estuaries where fresh and saltwater combine, where a chemical action happens, which creates energy. A semi-permeable membrane separates a less saline solution with a more saline solution in an osmotic system. Pressure retarded osmosis is the energy generated from osmosis to move the turbine. If the volume remains constant, the pressure will increase. The first osmotic plant opened in 2009 and terminated in 2013. The system did not generate enough energy (4 KW) to cover building costs, operations, and maintenance expenses.

Other researchers are looking at alternatives such as letting ions pass the membrane instead of water (reverse electrodialysis), warming the temperature to 50°C with heated wastewater from cooling towers, or using carbon dioxide instead of seawater.

The video shown below discusses the history of osmotic power.

Tidal Power

Tides are generated from the earth's rotation and the gravitational pull from the sun and the moon. Tidal power is a type of hydropower that uses waves to generate electricity. Tidal power is predictable since the tidal highs and lows are known in advance but need to be installed on the coastline, and the minimum head distance is 10-ft between high and low tide.

The video below describes tidal powers in further detail.

The tidal technology's most efficient is the tidal barrage, where the largest tidal power plant is in South Korea, which generates 254 MW and is explained further in the video below.

Wind Power

Offshore wind power is energy generated by wind farms in a body of water such as seas. They are located at sea and tend to produce more power than land-based systems. Offshore wind will either have a fixed foundation in shallow water or is being deployed in deep waters using anchors as some of the most productive wind areas are far out in the sea. Floating wind farms could contribute significantly to lowering emissions in energy generation. Among the advantages of floating offshore wind is the potential low environmental impact and the ease of manufacture and installation , as the floating turbines and platforms can be built and assembled on land and then towed to the offshore installation

The location of potential wind farms can be evaluated further using the global wind atlas.

Seatrec has created a renewable battery for sensors and drones by harvesting energy from phase-changing material that transitions from solid to liquid and back again when heated. Power is generated by using during the pressure fluctuation from the phases shift from solid to liquid. The phase conversion from liquid to solid occurs from temperature variations between the warmer water at the top of the ocean surface and cooler water at depths. More information is shown in the video below.

Transport

As the maritime industry marches through the era of stringent environmental regulations and increasing fuel costs, some shipping companies are testing the use of sails, from traditional fabric sails to rotor sails, in an effort to harness the power of wind and either power vessels completely emissions-free or provide auxiliary propulsion. These companies are spending considerable amount of resources to search for alternative green ship technologies which would not only help in successfully powering the ships but also satisfy the growing demands of environmental protection norms.

The options for compliance are to either use cleaner distillate fuels, install sulfur dioxide removal scrubbers, or reduce fuel use. The last option has received the most industry efforts, and shippers are adopting new standards and technology to comply with the IMO’s mandate, including electric ships, autonomous technology, digital freight forwarding and even sails . Maersk is hedging against the possibility of tougher regulations and has set its own goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050, making a sizable bet that new technology will eventually be cheaper than oil.

A Swedish company is developing a 200-metre-long cargo ship that will be powered by wind . . The ship will have an engine as a backup but aims to save 90% of carbon emissions compared to a conventional ship. The expected ship cost will be higher, but operational cost is expected to be lower than a regular cargo ship. a conventional car carrier, but operation costs are expected to be lower.

The last couple of decades have seen a drastic increase in the melting of sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic which has far-reaching impacts not just on the two Earth’s poles but also on the entire world. Various innovative ways have been adopted to monitor the extent of sea ice, one of such examples is discussed below.

Sea Ice Aware , is a web application which displays the monthly mean sea ice extent for the Arctic and Antarctic along with the historical median extent. Additionally, graphs in the app are used to visualize the minimum and maximum extent for each year. Use the map below to select specific years to display on the map.

Autonomous Ships

Autonomous ships and surface vessels are the next facet of the blue economy. The drive to build a sustainable ocean economy is spurring unprecedented innovation. The maritime industry, for example, is not apt to adopt new technologies. Sailing ships made of wood had been used for thousands of years; until just over 200 years ago the technology left first to steam ships and then, with a surprising speed, to modern giant vessels equipped with radars , GPS, ECDIS and other smart devices. There are three most prominent tendencies that will guide further digitalization of the shipping industry:

1. Smart technologies overtaking the majority of processes on board
2. Arrival of unmanned ships
3. Eco-friendly shipping.

Over the last decade, a few autonomous ship prototypes have been developed. While Norway is pioneering the technological development of autonomous ships, other countries such as China , Finland , Japan , Singapore , Canada and USA have also made significant progress. However, future applications of autonomous ships and potential business models are not yet well explored. In the near future, autonomous ships are expected to be launched commercially, adding a new dimension in the merchant shipping industry. The Global Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) Market Report in 2022 offers extensive knowledge and information about the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships Market pertaining to market size, market share, growth influencing factors, opportunities, and current and emerging trends. According to this report, some key factors hampering MASS market growth include volatile shipping costs, fuel costs and regulations. Currently, global shipping regulations are unpredictable, and as a result, it cannot be predicted whether autonomous ships would be allowed to operate, or who would be accountable in accidental situations. Besides, piracy and cyber threats are the biggest challenges. These can considerably impact ship owners, port operators, and respective underwriters. Physical assets as well as offices of marine companies could be affected by cyberattacks. Additionally, operations of autonomous ships require technical training, and lack of skilled personnel are factors impacting market growth to some extent during the forecast period of 2030.

As the world progresses towards a higher level of autonomy, the shipping industry is also adapting to this trend with smart ship technologies. Autonomous technology for ships , the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics represent the modern features that companies and the entire maritime industry strive to achieve. With no human captain or onboard crew, The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) started its historic transatlantic voyage on Tuesday, 15 June 2021 as part of the Mayflower 400 commemorations.

As the world progresses towards a higher level of autonomy, the shipping industry is also adapting to this trend with smart ship technologies. Autonomous technology for ships , the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics represent the modern features that companies and the entire maritime industry strive to achieve. The use of internet of things sensors and robotics in place of human operators, with alternate energy sources, for semi-autonomous or fully autonomous ships on commercial scale, are gradually becoming available within more advanced countries.

Several innovators such asSea Machines Robotics, Autonomous Marine Systems and Shone Automation are improving efficiency through autonomous surveying, control and navigation technology. Sea Machines and Shone offer autonomous control and navigation systems that can be installed in existing or new watercraft to allow for safer, more efficient navigation. Autonomous Marine Systems has developed unmanned, wind and solar-powered marine robots to provide survey data to shore operations.

Worldwide, there are now more than 1,000 maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) operated by more than 53 organizations. These vessels work alongside manned vessels with minimal autonomous-specific regulation. Efforts to develop autonomous and remote control of ships are expanding, with a greater focus on highly congested ports and seaways as a proving ground for the technology. Recently, technology company ABB working with the Singapore shipyard of Keppel Offshore & Marine tested a remote control tugboat in Singapore.

Remote tugboat operation in Singapore

The Flemish Smart Shipping program is an active autonomous initiative utilizing the 1,000-plus kilometers of Belgium’s inland canals and rivers. Its four-pronged approach combines minimally crewed autonomous ships with a smart infrastructure utilizing automated canals and locks. This is all possible through a waterborne communication network, allowing the vessels to interact with the smart infrastructure. New Flemish regulations give the autonomous vessels a legal means to operate. Smart Shipping is active in the Flemish countryside with vessels controlled by a master or mate from a centralized station. The program includes inland barges and vessels seeking and removing large floating debris from the waterways.

In the Netherlands, the City of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions are working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to produce a fleet of autonomous vessels name RoBoat . The partners hope this autonomous network will fill the canals and waterways of Amsterdam with a modular vessel that can be outfitted for household waste removal, logistics movement and ferry operations, all based on the same hull design. This design uses a LIDAR sensor pod and an HD camera to plot a safe route through the city, and it can be seen in testing in Amsterdam. The development of RoBoat is a potentially profitable green venture, as other cities, including Copenhagen, Paris, and Tokyo have expressed interest in the modular USV.

MITs Autonomous “Roboats” find their own way down Amsterdam’s canals

Disruptive innovations including Blockchain, Drones, Geospatial Analytics, Big Data and Internet of Things in marine transport faces certain challenges or risks which should be minimized in order to fully exploit their advantages. The paper provides an overview of selected disruptive innovations in electronic transportation management systems in general and highlight, based on a review of published literature, major challenges and success factors in implementing disruptive innovations in maritime transport. For example, Blockchain technology immaturity, lack of regulation, and security and privacy issues. Nevertheless, disruptive innovations possess the potential to improve transport business.

Autonomous vessels and navigation is at the early stages of growth, but is becoming increasingly likely, over the coming years, a significant number of vessels will be entering service around the world navigated by computers and sensor-with or without remote human supervision. Legalization and information requirements will also change so that automated systems are able to interpret and act on data to operate these vessels safely and efficiently.

A key challenge for the IMO, is to prevent cyber-attacks such as the one suffered by Maersk in 2007 .

Technology and big-data analytics are helping to reduce the cost and risk of working in the ocean environment, allowing control of operations to be transferred to onshore centers. Technology is allowing for innovation across the board, making possible marine simulation, remote monitoring and predictive maintenance, autonomous vehicles, smart protective coatings, forensic seafood traceability , decarbonisation , deep-seabed mining , lab-grown seafood and the development of single-cell fish proteins . But these huge leaps forward require a workforce with different skills to the ones in use today. This means traditional maritime roles will increasingly be replaced with systems engineers, programmers and data analysts, which poses challenges for the industry.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, a research marine vessel led by Promare, supported by IBM and a global consortium of partners/ it is a solar energy and AI powered vessel, with no humans is conducting research on critical issues: global warming, ocean plastic pollution and marine mammal conservation. The vessel has 6 AI powered cameras on board, 30 onboard sensors, and 15 edge services. The vessel works in tandem with oceanographers and other vessels, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, will spend long durations at sea, carrying scientific equipment and making is own decisions about how to optimize its route and mission, machine learning and automation software, ensure that decisions made are safe and in-line with collision regulations. The Mayflower was launched on September 15,2020. More on the Mayflower Autonomous Ship . By leveraging Artificial Intelligence and other cutting-edge computing technologies and developing a new class of efficient, crewless and environmentally-friendly ship, MAS will start a new era of marine exploration just when we need it the most. This research vessel will help in taking decisions about what to do next.

Zero-Emissions Cargo Ship

The Yara Birkeland will be the world’s first completely autonomous zero-emission cargo ship, including land operations (loading and unloading) that will enter commercial operations when launched.

Two technology areas will shape commercial shipping in 2030 with a significant impact on ship system design and ship operation: the first technology area originates from within the industry, as intense competition encourages technology sophistication and operational efficiency for obtaining commercial advantages. The second technology area is from other sectors, as maturing technology is ripe for transfer to ship system design and operation to enhance safety, as well as financial and commercial performance. The first area includes propulsion and powering, ship building and smart ships. The second area includes sensors, robotics, big data analytics, advanced materials, and communications

Marine Transport

As the shipping industry provides about 3 percent of the carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually , the International Maritime Organization has set regulations to reduce global carbon dioxide emission by 50 percent from 2008 for large container ships.

Air Cushion Technology

Air-cushion technology for hulls of ships, where the front of the ship is shaped to allow an air cushion to form underneath the hall while the ship is moving. This reduces friction between the ship and the water, enabling more propulsion with less fuel use. Air cushion technology can cut emissions by 10-15%.

To reduce fuel consumption on ships by up to 14% , waste heat from exhaust gases can used to heat and generate steam for heating cargo areas, accommodation, fuel oil etc.

The shipping industry is looking at wind to reduce their global carbon footprintOne company is testing a kite-based product called Seawing that uses a wind-assisted propulsion system that can provide 90 tons of traction. In addition, the system is fully automated as it unfolds and refolds on its own and adjusts to changing weather patterns by collecting oceanic and metrological data. More information is shown in the video below.

Rotor Sail is a wind propulsion option that uses vertical rotors. Rotor sails are deployed when high winds allow engine power to be reduced. More information on rotor sail is shown in the video below.

Another company is designing wind-assisted propulsion using a nonrotating suction wing called ventifoil. Ventifoil incorporates an internal fan that creates a boundary layer suction. The system will adjust to determine the best angle when deployed.

Another design is a solid wing sail system that resembles aviation wings . The wings are placed as a group of two to five and are computer controlled. The wings can collapse when passing underneath a bridge..

A zero-carbon propulsion system is being designed where the propulsion system uses wind, solar power, fuel, and clean exhaust gases. Additional performance improvements include optimizing the hull shape and a weather routing system. Exhaust gases are cleaned with lime to absorb CO2, and emissions will be free from NOX (nitrogen oxides), SOX (Sulphur oxides), and VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) while releasing oxygen, water, and nontoxic nitrogen.

Ammonia is being considered by the shipping industry is looking as they plan to reduce their global carbon footprint since ammonia, whose chemical formula is NH3 has no carbon atom. In addition, ammonia makes an excellent fuel since its energy density by volume is greater than 30% higher than that of liquid hydrogen and easier to distribute.

A demonstrator cargo ship incorporating hydrogen fuel and wind power. The sails are expected to reduce the amount of fuel by 40 percent.

The Rotterdam Additive Manufacturing Lab, part of the Rotterdam Port, can print 3D parts for the maritime and offshore sectors. 3D printing allows specific parts to be made for a ship without mold, dies, and waiting for a production run. For example, a ship component produces a part within days while a conventional part takes weeks or months and then would have to be imported in from another location. More information on RAMLAB is shown in the video below.

Habitation

Floating City

Governments are starting to adapt to the impacts of climate change from sea-level rise by developing floating cities in Busan Korea and the Maldives instead of trying to prevent water from entering the city. For the Maldives, sea-level rise is an existential threat as the average elevation of the island is 3.3 feet above sea level. The proposed floating city will be coral shape as it would consist of rows of honeycomb-like hexagonal maze rows. The city itself will be within a lagoon and anchored to many islands. The islands will act as a breaker by reducing the impact of waves on the structure.

Digital Twins

There is a pressing need today to create simulations of our natural environment with sufficiently high fidelity to help prepare for, protect from, and prevent the imminent and catastrophic effects of climate change- digital twins could be a way forward.

The port in Rotterdam is one of the largest ports by tonnage in Europe. As the port prepares for tomorrow's advances, they use the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to create a digital twin. The digital twin will be an accurate digital reproduction of operations, track ship movements, infrastructure, weather, geography, and water depth data. This information allows for a better understanding of the port's operation and how changes can improve overall efficiency and increase safety. This improvement can lead to a few different efficiencies. For example, a ship berthing, a digital dashboard where all parties see all other parties' actions simultaneously, can improve the overall traffic and efficiency. It has been estimated that 1 hour of berthing time can save a shipping firm up to 80,000 USD. Another aspect is having reliable water level and weather data so a ship can determine the best time to reach port since calm oceans and weather reduces overall shipping costs. More information is available in the video below.

VR/AR

BlueTech related learning as well as systems design, monitoring and operations can benefit from Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. Explore some of these in the following:

1. 360° VR Virtual Tour on BlueTech

2. 360° VR Video of Aquaculture Fish Farm in Chios, Greece

3. 360° VR Underwater National Park | National Geographic

4. 360° VR Dive on the coral reefs of Palau, National Geographic

5. 360° VR Undersea Road View of Dokdo, Korea

6. 360° VR Marine Debris Collection in Korea

Drones

Maritime solutions using drones are being developed in several types with specific functions. Drone technology helps safe navigation by providing images collected and analyzed by hydrogen drones for use in the electronic navigational chart master. In the past, it was difficult for vessels to precisely capture illegal vessels that are not shown on radar, but through real-time monitoring of images collected by drones, vessels will be able to identify illegal vessels in a timely manner and take proactive safety measures.

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