Seabed can provide 50 percent of energy requirements by 2050
UK power generation will need to increase rapidly to cover a rise in population and The Crown Estate are seeking solutions.
The Crown Estate, which owns most of Britain’s continental shelf resources, recently asked teams of innovators for suggestions on how best to tap the energy potential the seabed presents, particularly with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). It is hoped that through this combination, the seabed around the British Isles could possibly produce half of all generated power by 2050.
The Crown Estate possesses a vast amount of seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland with most of the sea around the coastline extending out to the territorial limit of 12 nautical miles coming under its control. In Scotland, it is run similarly out to 12 nautical miles and includes half of Scotland’s foreshore with 5,800 licensed moorings, 750 aquaculture sites and salmon fishing rights.
South of the border, the modern-day Crown Estates was established in 1961 with the passing of The Crown Estate Act. Three years later, the Continental Shelf Act extended ownership of the seabed out to the territorial limit.
Hackathon launched for new ideas
To access fresh innovation, The Crown Estate organised a hackathon together with AI-first education provider Inversity in their London offices. Over 50 participants — mostly computer science A-level students from sixth form colleges around the country — attended the workshop, pitching their ideas to an expert judging panel that included Sam Miller, Director of the Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator, Jess Furness, UK Director of Rewriting the Code, a non-profit focused on helping more women into tech, The Tn Estate’s Cheryl Avery, Head of Marine Operations, and Dr James Kuht, CEO of Inversity.
In addition to A-Level students, other teams included non-profit workers and military veterans seeking to transition to tech roles, alongside two machine learning PhD graduates from Imperial College London.
“We’ve come a long way since the first offshore wind turbines were installed almost 25 years ago, but as we look ahead, we need fresh, innovative approaches to the goal of meeting net zero that take into account a growing number of demands on our seabed,” Avery stated. “The hackathon is a key event on our journey to resolving this challenge while fostering diverse new generations of talent along the way.”
A team from Worcester Sixth Form College were judged to have pitched the most complete concept which was described as “visually stunning”. It was an app-based solution that provided information to the public about offshore developments in their locality. The team was awarded a £1,000 cash prize for their submission. Top performing individuals from across the competition were also offered internships in The Crown Estate within the Marine Business and Digital department.
Aruj Haider, The Crown Estate's Senior Director of Emerging Technology and Innovation enthused: "We were inspired by the innovative proposals and are excited to bring more visionary young talent on board to shape a sustainable and thriving marine economy for the future.”
Concluding, Dr Kuht said: “The hackathon allowed participants to apply their existing tech skillsets to a unique, sustainability focused challenge, set by The Crown Estate. Using their software and data science know-how, participating teams were able to develop engaging, scalable and implementable solutions to help solve a pressing environmental issue."
Discuss this topic at length in the Offshore Renewables Special Interest Group.
Image: graphic of underwater energy; credit: Shutterstock.
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