• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

British Energy Could Come From Sea Power

Posted on: Monday, 30 January 2006, 00:00 CST

Britain could generate a fifth of its electricity by harnessing the power of tides and waves, the Observer reported Sunday.

A report by the government's energy advisers shows wave and tidal power could replace the electricity currently produced by nuclear power stations.

Harnessing the roughest seas -- particularly those around Cornwall and the north of Scotland -- with machines that capture the movement of tides and waves, has long been a dream of scientists. In recent years finding clean, renewable power to replace polluting fossil fuels has taken on a new urgency as the world battles to reduce carbon emissions from coal, oil and gas.

Until now, marine power generators have been limited to small prototypes, considered too futuristic to answer the planet's energy problems. The study by the Carbon Trust, which advises the government on clean energy, challenges that -- and predicts tidal and wave power generators could be supplying a significant amount of power to the electricity grid by the end of this decade.

Source: United Press International

More News in this Category