The promise of renewable energy is huge, from reaching emissions targets to contributing to blue growth. Along with this promise comes the pressing need to understand how energy harnessed from wind, waves and tides will impact the environment. Sustainable use of these resources will play a key role in achieving the Scottish Government’s ambitious renewable energy and carbon emission targets. Our philosophy of “research where the resource is” means ERI is ideally situated, yet our research has international reach and impact. We actively seek and develop effective collaborations and partnerships, within regional, national and international settings.

Our team integrates in-situ measurement, environmental survey, experimental, modelling and remote-sensing approaches. These provide new insights relevant to renewable energy, but also ecosystem functioning and anthropogenic impacts more generally within the fields of marine biology, behavioural ecology and oceanography.

We promote understanding of closely coupled social and economic issues, with a focus on rural and island communities. We are proud to contribute to the prospects of northern Scotland, supporting sustainable industries that can have a transformational impact on the prospects of our region, its economy, its people and its communities. We continue to incorporate new environmental understanding into integrated sustainability assessments and models at community, local and regional scales. We also explore the interdependencies of adjacent sectors such as nuclear energy, oil and gas, and aquaculture, including leading Energy Knowledge Exchange and Innovation activities across UHI.