Real-Time Streaming Analytics to Monitor Underwater noise generated by Wave Energy Generator | WPN World People News

“Underwater noise is a global environmental issue that has to be addressed if we are to take advantage of the huge potential of ocean energy,” said Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Union Commissioner for Research, Innovation, and Science.

The west coast of Ireland boasts one of the largest concentrations of wave energy in the world, and consequently, Ireland has been pursuing the development of wave energy as a sustainable/renewable energy alternative. Wave energy conversion devices, such as the ones pictured here, are being developed and tested by a number of companies. [Photo courtesy Ocean Energy, Ltd.]

One potential barrier to tapping wave energy is lack of information about the environmental impact of wave energy generator. Particularly , while the European Union's marine environmental policy has established underwater noise limits to wave energy generators.

To address this issue, IBM is teaming up with the Irish government to use real-time streaming analytics and run through IBM cloud analytics technology to track the environmental impact of wave energy generators.
IBM plans to create a system consist of sensors, a communications infrastructure to collect and monitor wave conditions, acoustics, marine life and pollution levels. Data from the sensors is fed continuously to IBM's data centers for analysis with the goal of understanding noise levels and the effect on the marine ecosystem.

The west coast of Ireland boasts one of the largest concentrations of wave energy in the world, and consequently, Ireland has been pursuing the development of wave energy as a sustainable/renewable energy alternative. Wave energy conversion devices, such as the ones pictured here, are being developed and tested by a number of companies. [Photo courtesy Wavebob, Ltd.]

The data analysis solution will be applied to the problem of exploring how much underwater noise wave energy generators actually create and made available to marine researchers, regulators, and ocean energy developers to have further advance knowledge of natural and artificial underwater sound. The data will be used to help develop standards and reporting to meet the requirements of marine environmental agencies.