Presenter: Sydney Walker (University of Colorado Boulder)

Description:
Human activity along our coasts and throughout our oceans has been increasing over the past few decades. In 2017, the output of the global Blue Economy was estimated at €1.3 trillion, and that value is expected to more than double by 2030. Offshore wind and tourism are major sectors in the blue economy, and they have the potential to function jointly through multi-use, thereby creating added benefits for both sectors as well as society overall. To contribute to the assessment of multi-use’s viability, this project has evaluated existing areas where offshore wind and tourism are successfully infused together and globally identified additional areas where they are likely to work together. Taking advantage of multi-use is becoming increasingly beneficial. By having industries function jointly in the same space, instead of parceling out ocean space by industry, the blue economy can remain sustainable and competitive. Early identification of these areas viable for offshore wind and tourism multi-use is important not only to businesses and coastal communities, but to the sustainable future of our oceans. The areas that are likely to benefit the most from this form of multi-use can be identified using GIS to analyze ocean space. First, datasets including ship density, wind speed, light at night, and tourism arrivals were used to understand both environmental and social factors indicative of supporting this form of multi-use. Then, these factors were spatially quantified and aggregated together in ArcGIS to identify locations best suited to combining offshore wind and tourism. Results indicate a higher potential for multi-use success in higher populated and more developed regions. Low population limits the potential for this type of multi-use in many areas, but a smaller-scale, regional analysis would provide more detailed insight into specific regions.