RIASSUNTO
The environmental impacts of wave energy projects are not yet fully understood. Only a few Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) have been carried out and only for small pilot plants. The assessment of such impacts is a highly complex process, not only because of the medium where these projects are developed but also due to the variety of devices and the different ways in which they interact with the surrounding environment. A further conflict exists with the fact that most EIAs are designed to gain development consent rather than aid environmental protection. This paper presents a comparison of the environmental studies undertaken for several offshore renewable technologies. It concludes by evaluating what environmental factors should be analyzed before the deployment of any wave energy farm, also taking into account the similarities to other marine renewables, mainly offshore wind energy. It aims to establish coherence in this field for future legislation or international standardizations. INTRODUCTION - HOW TO ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE? Knowledge is growing about the environmental impacts of offshore renewable energy, but little has yet been proven. Basic studies covering major environment topics and wave energy were only started in 2001 (WaveNet, 2003). Offshore wind energy has some advantage in this field, but the first complete monitoring program done was not enough to give a complete picture (Dong et al., 2006). An environmental impact is defined by the difference between the environmental conditions without the deployment of the project and the final state of the environment after deployment (Canter, 1997). In order to measure that change, environmental baseline conditions have to be established as a reference. If a project starts without measuring the state of the environment at that moment, it will be difficult to prove if there is a relevant environmental impact or not. On one hand, EIA is a legislative requirement, and on the other hand, its findings could be used as proof of sustainability.