By Tina Casey •
July 4, 2009
Is the world ready for another ambitious ocean power program?
Blue Energy Canada Inc. and World Energy Research are moving quickly in that direction. After signing a memorandum of understanding last month, the two companies just announced a formal agreement to build a 200 megawatt, half-billion dollar commercial tidal power project based on Blue Energy’s Davis Tidal Turbine. Meanwhile, DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been quietly working the other end of the scale to develop buoy-sized ocean power generating equipment.
By Matthew Phelan •
February 20, 2009
The data comparing VIVACE to conventional power sources has to be seen to be believed.
By Ariel Schwartz •
January 27, 2009
Water rises and falls up to 12 yards, twice a day in the Severn Estuary. That’s a lot of potential tidal power going to waste, and the UK knows it. Yesterday, the government announced 5 potential schemes to harness the Severn’s plentiful energy.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 24, 2009
One of the world’s leading developers of tidal power will partner with a Canadian utility to develop tidal power technology and associated facilities in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.
Working in partnership with the Canadian company Minas Basin Pulp and Power, UK tidal power developers, Marine Current Turbines will demonstrate and deploy a 1.5MW tidal generator that will be connected to the Nova Scotia power grid.
Scott Travers, of Minas Basin Pulp and Power praised the move as an economic boon. “There is a potential new industry here employing hundreds of people in operations and manufacturing and deployment of tidal power technology, here and globally,” said Travers in a statement.
By Jerry James Stone •
January 22, 2009
the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee approved $20 billion in energy tax credits and related financial incentives as part of the Obama administration’s plan to revive the American economy.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 14, 2009
The venerable Rolls-Royce, maker of some of the finest motorcars, engines and turbines in the world, will be sea-testing tidal power turbines off the coast of the UK beginning this summer.
According to company officials, Rolls-Royce along with a company called Tidal Generation Limited, will begin trials of a half-megawatt (MW) turbine this summer. Rolls has also entered a separate R&D partnership to build and test a 1 MW version that should be in the water in about 18 months.
By Kay Sexton •
January 11, 2009
The planet’s 44 million servers actually use 0.5% percent of the world’s electricity. If you total up data centre emissions, one guesstimate is that they are close to the same level as carbon output of nations such as Argentina.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
December 18, 2008
Since its inception, we have been keeping a close eye on Marine Current Turbine’s SeaGen project in the UK, the world’s first commercial scale tidal stream turbine. Well, today there is more big news to report from the strong tidal flows of Strangford Lough as SeaGen has generated at its maximum capacity of 1.2MW for the first time. Thus far, this is the highest power produced by a tidal stream system anywhere in the world and exceeds the previous highest output of 300kW produced in 2004 by the company’s earlier SeaFlow system, off the north Devon coast.
By Ariel Schwartz •
December 3, 2008
Solving our energy crisis requires serious manpower— and serious incentives. That’s why Scotland has launched the $15 million (€10 million) Saltire Prize Challenge to create commercially viable wave or tidal power.
By Ariel Schwartz •
November 24, 2008
Tidal power is already on its way to becoming a viable energy source, but a University of Michigan engineer believes that slow-moving ocean and river currents could also be renewable energy providers.
By Andrew Williams •
November 17, 2008
A UK engineer has invented a device that harnesses wave power to pump sea water uphill, from where it can flow downhill to create hydroelectricity, raising hopes of a cheap, abundant source of renewable energy.
In trials, the device, called the Searaser, has pumped water more than 160ft above sea level, using little more than the natural motion of the waves. There are now plans for a much larger version, capable of pumping to a height of more than 650ft.
Inventor Alvin Smith reckons that each full-size device would be able to pump enough water to supply electricity to 470 homes. He also calculates that a fleet of 43,000 could generate enough power for a staggering 20 million households.
