The world’s oceans cover about 71 percent of the earth’s surface and their value is incalculable for both the planet and mankind. They are a vital, complex and all-encompassing natural resource ranging from a vital food resource in many parts of the world, renewable energy resource, and potential water supply reservoir. Additionally, many still unexplored… Keep reading →
Doesn’t anyone remember LIMPET? Agucadoura? Despite what you might have read, the Carnegie Wave Energy project at Garden Island, off Perth, Australia, is not the world’s first grid-connected wave power station, nor the first grid-connected wave power array. The 500-kilowatt-rated LIMPET – that’s Land Installed Marine Power Energy Transmitter – commissioned in spring 2001 on… Keep reading →
It’s been a long, hard winter for wave energy, with reports of failure and retrenchment streaming out of Europe. But, hey, it’s still summer Down Under, and Australia has delivered a rare sunny wave story. The question is whether the Carnegie Wave Energy system near Perth – it officially began piping energy to the grid… Keep reading →
The renewable energy sector is dynamic, with advancing technology and evolving policy. As 2015 beckons, here are some of the key questions that Portland, Oregon-based contributor Pete Danko will be asking as about U.S. renewables. 1) Is The PTC Winding Down or Dead? The wind industry won a small victory just before Congress went home,… Keep reading →
Pelamis, long a leading player in the wave energy industry, has gone “into administration,” akin to Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The fall of the Scottish company, announced on Friday, was a blow to Scotland and a sign of the tremendous challenges wave developers face – but it might also signal a necessary winnowing of the incipient… Keep reading →
Wave energy – recently characterized by one leading academic in the field as being “in kindergarten” compared to fossil fuels – isn’t about to graduate to the big time, but the effort to build a meaningful industry in the U.S. could advance several grades in the next few years. Not one, not two, but at… Keep reading →
The tides are an enormous and consistent renewable energy resource, but taking advantage of them has proven frustrating. Newfangled minimal-impact in-stream devices have been slow to demonstrate their commercial viability; earlier “barrage” projects – dams on estuaries, essentially – have delivered energy as promised, but at the cost of degraded ecosystems. Now a potential solution… Keep reading →
In case you missed it, the United Nations held its Climate Summit at the New York headquarters yesterday where world leaders discussed carbon emissions reduction commitments, building momentum leading up to major international climate meetings in Peru later this year and France next year. “Experts say that in the coming months, the clearest indication of… Keep reading →
