The Atlantis-AK1000 tidal energy turbine unveiled last week in Scotland.
That America is lagging behind other nations in developing and deploying products in the emerging $600 billion renewable energy technology market has been well-documented. But it can be surprising to realize just how rapidly others are progressing relative to the U.S:
- Just yesterday, France announced a $1.73 billion (USD) national investment in renewable energy technologies. The money, to be spent over 4 years, will be used to subsidize and provide low-interest loans to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy fossil-fuel alternatives that go beyond the country’s existing nuclear and wind power options.
- Last week, Scotland unveiled a cutting-edge tidal turbine energy platform in Invergordon. The lone turbine—a beta deployment of a technology designed to be installed in large fields a la wind turbines—is planned to produce 1 MW, enough to power 1,000 homes. The turbine, which was developed by London-based Atlantis Resources, has already injected more than $6.3 million (USD) into Britain’s renewable energy sector and has provided employment across a broad range of sectors including design, engineering, fabrication and project management. “We are at the start of a new industrial boom, akin to the development of the North Sea oil and gas fields,” said Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius. “If we receive the same support from all levels of government that the oil and gas industry received to make the North Sea the success that it is, then the future is very bright for marine power and even brighter for Scotland.” Experts believe that tidal energy technologies, such as that used in the AK1000 project, have the potential to produce 5 TW, or 30% of global energy demand. If only for this reason, tidal energy expertise is a hefty prize in the renewable energy race.
- And finally, China yesterday announced that it has plans to build a MagLev/Vacuum train that will attain speeds of up to 620 mph. The technology behind the train—which would be capable of reaching Los Angeles from San Francisco in 50 minutes or New York from Washington in 30 minutes— is expected to attract sovereign and private demand for Chinese expertise around the world to the great benefit of Beijing’s coffers.
Hi Adam,
Great post. As America continues to rest on our laurels, our global competitors surge ahead, developing the clean energy technologies (and industries) of the future.
One note though: in regards to tidal power potential, you significantly over-report the potential here. The Navy post you link to refers to the energy generation potential of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion technology, or OTEC, which uses the temperature (and/or salinity) gradients in different layers of the ocean to extract energy. This technology is very pre-commercial, and while it is still unclear whether large amounts of ocean thermal energy can be harnessed at competitive rates, it is one of three distinct “ocean energy” technologies, and of the three, has the largest useful global energy potential.
Wave power is at a similar stage of development as tidal, with several designs in pilot demonstration across the world (with centers of activity in Oregon, Scotland, and Portugal). Harnessing the motion and power of ocean waves could net a total useful global energy potential of about 2 TW, according to some estimates.
Tidal power is the third ‘ocean energy technology,’ and the one with the least energy potential. Tidal power uses the ebb and flow of tides, usually through narrow inlets or channels, to generate electricity. The technology — large turbines — is similar to wave power or in-stream, run-of-river hydropower turbines (which may have far more potential than tidal energy). (Older generation tidal power stations use huge dams known as ‘barrage dams’ to trap tidal inflow into estuaries, but this technology is both expensive and more environmentally damaging). While OTEC may be utilized across much of the tropical and equatorial oceans and wave power can be generated across the western coasts of most continents and islands, tidal power generation is only possible at a few dozen select locations throughout the world, with very strong tidal currents. Total global potential for ocean tidal power may be as little as 64 GW, or a couple of orders of magnitude smaller than the energy potential for wave power or OTEC.
So unfortunately, tidal power isn’t very scalable, although it may make very good sense as a contributor to regional energy systems in certain parts of the world. Developing the technology, however, may lead to commercially viable in-stream hydrokinetic turbines (an example), which use very similar technology to capture power from rivers without requiring the construction of a hydropower dam and with minimal environmental impact. Hydrokinetic turbines could greatly expand worldwide hydropower capacity.
Jesse,
You are very right and I definitely inadvertently equivocated in my linkage. My point as intended re: OTEC and Tidal, which I believe you actually present more clearly than I would want to replicate, is that the as we stall, others surge ahead in developing technologies that will open doors to future significant breakthroughs. The point, in any case, remains the same: in addition to reigning in unfair international competition in energy markets (a position that has gained traction politically in the past week), the federal government needs to take proactive measures to ACTUALLY compete. One option that I’ve been interested in is to leverage the Department of Defense for the task. But whatever the solution, it’s important that policymakers develop—perhaps through reciting examples like those above—a genuine sense of urgency and a call to action.