Tethys (database)

Tethys is an online knowledge management system that provides the marine renewable energy (MRE) and wind energy communities with access to information and scientific literature on the environmental effects of devices. Named after the Greek titaness of the sea, the goal of the Tethys database is to promote environmental stewardship and the advancement of the wind and marine renewable energy communities. The website has been developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in support of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind and Water Power Technologies Office. Tethys hosts information and activities associated with two international collaborations known as OES-Environmental and WREN, formed to examine the environmental effects of marine renewable energy projects and wind energy projects, respectively. As industry, academia, and government seek to develop new renewable energy sources from moving water and wind, there exists an opportunity to gather potential environmental effects of these technologies. Tethys aims to evaluate and measure these effects to ensure that aquatic and avian animals, habitats, and ecosystem functions are not adversely affected, nor that important ocean and land uses are displaced. While these studies are presently scattered among different organizations, Tethys creates a centralized hub where this information can be found. Each document is labeled with an environmental stressor and receptor which categorize the type of potential harm and the affected area of the environment. The categories and the technology types covered are listed below: OES-Environmental, formerly known as Annex IV, is a collaborative project among member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Ocean Energy Systems (OES) to examine environmental effects of ocean energy projects and research. There is currently a wide range of ocean energy technologies and devices in development around the world; the few data that exist on environmental effects of these technologies are dispersed among different countries and developers.