PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF HEAT PUMP DISCHARGES ON SHALLOW BENTHIC LITTORAL COMMUNITIES IN MONACO

Among renewable energies, seawater heat pumps (HP) represent useful technology which uses oceans thermal energy needed for air conditioning and heating systems. However, the outflow of these systems consist of thermally altered brackish or seawater which is discharged directly into the sea, thus potentially impacting local benthic communities. We measured the effects of HP discharge along spatial gradients east- and westward of an outflow in the Ligurian Sea, assessing the composition of upper sublittoral benthic assemblages. The combined effect of temperature and salinity alteration did not seem to affect the structure of macrolaglal assemblages, while C. compressa was absent close the outflow. These preliminary results showed a limited effect of HP in artificial zones characterized by tolerant species -dominated assemblages.