|Global warming and its impact on our environment, society, economies and | |security is one of the fundamental concerns of our time. In response, the | |United Kingdom government has put in place a legally binding target of an | |80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on 1990 levels by 2050. The United| |Kingdom will need to achieve a tenfold expansion of energy supply from | |renewable sources by 2020 to meet its share of the European Union renewable | |energy target. The marine and

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... environment's renewable energy | |potential in Britain is high. It is estimated that it has 50% of the tidal | |energy, 35% of wave and 40% of wind resources in the European Union. Use of | |geothermal resources using heat pump technology is the least evolved sector,| |but in 2010 contributed to 0.7 TWh of energy and it is believed that non | |domestic heat pumps could contribute up to 22 TWh by 2020. In the Southwest | |of England, Poole Harbour has been recognised as a potential, highly | |predictable source of tidal and heat energy. Local groups are embarking on a| |feasibility study for harnessing this energy for the benefit of the | |community. The purpose of this article is to examine the potential conflict | |of interest between the laudable aims of promoting the use of renewable | |energy and of safeguarding ecosystems and their biodiversity. Using Poole | |Harbour as a case study, it will consider the environmental and economic | |costs and benefits of a Community Renewable Energy project (the Poole Tidal | |Energy Partnership) in the context of an area subject to a number of | |statutory and non-statutory designations to protect nationally and | |internationally important habitats and species. The paper identifies key | |environmental legislation, including spatial planning law and policy, which | |will facilitate exploring whether there is potential for reconciling what | |may be perceived as competing objectives for sustainable development. | | | | | |Keywords: Community, Economics, Environmental Law, Renewable Energy, Spatial| |Planning. |