$7.5 MIL FOR OCEAN ENERGY R&D

Assistant Energy Secretary Karsner said the $7.5 million in R&D funding made available to wave-tide-current energies by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is in service to President Bush’s goal of stopping U.S. greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions from growing by 2025. No doubt that is why the amount invested is so trivial compared to R&D spending on fossil fuels and nuclear energies: Inadequate goal = inadequate investment.

Don’t misunderstand, New Energy will take the money. Just don’t expect it to win any votes.

This is typical DOE shortsightedness.

Wave-tide-current energies don’t have the cost effectiveness more thoroughly developed New Energies now have but that’s because they’re so new they’re still struggling for development funding. The upside potential is enormous, emissions-free and there's no need to import oceans because the U.S. has one on each coast. Not to mention a big gulf to the south, huge lakes up north and lots and lots of rivers.

Wave power is obtained from devices riding waves, capturing the up-down energy and sending it along cables to onshore switching stations. Tide energy, transmitted in the same way, is captured from the motion of incoming and outgoing tides by mechanical devices at the edge of the coast. In current energy turbines are installed on ocean and river floors to capture the energy of flows.

There may be two trillion watts of electricity in ocean energy alone.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Finavera Renewables are planning the Humboldt County Offshore Wave Energy Power Plant, the first U.S. commercial wave energy plant. Off the Northern California coast, it will have eight buoys 2.5 miles offshore and produce 2 megawatts. It is expected to be online in 2012.

Like other energies that use natural resources, wave-tide-current energies face environmental impact issues. Protection of marine habitat, whether on the surface, at coastlines or in the seabed, is vital. Toxic leaks or accidental spills from hydraulic systems must be prevented. Visual and noise impacts must be muted. Conflicts with other waterway users (ex: commercial shipping, recreational boating) must be avoided or mitigated. Site selection is the key.

EERE: "Wave energy system planners can choose sites that preserve scenic shorefronts. They also can avoid areas where wave energy systems can significantly alter flow patterns of sediment on the ocean floor."

Wave-tide-current energies will someday make a significant contribution to world and U.S. electricity supplies. But not under this DOE.

click to enlarge

Feds Fund Energy Generation from Ocean Waves, Tide
May 5, 2008 (Environment News Service)

WHO
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (Andy Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy); Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) (Fong Wan, vice president); Finavera Renewables

Turbines on river floors capture current flows. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
DOE announced the availability of $7.5 million in federal funding for research and development of wave-tide-current energies.

WHEN
- Applications due June 16, 2008.
- As many as 17 awards will be made for projects to begin in FY2008.

Ocean currents are even bigger energy sources. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
Northeastern and northwestern U.S. coasts are rich in potential wave power.

WHY
- The $7.5 million is designated for advancing the viability and cost-competitiveness of wave-tide-current energy systems.
- The money will go to industry-led partnerships for R&D and field testing.
- Applicants must be project teams with an industry and a university or national laboratory partner.
- A minimum 50% non-federal financing share is required.
- University-led groups are eligible for advanced research funding to collect/disseminate information on best practices.
- Research topics: technology testing, experimental and numerical modeling, wave forecasting, environmental impacts, corrosion-resistant materials research.


For capturing tide energy. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Andy Karsner, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, DOE: "Water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface. Using environmentally responsible technologies, we have a tremendous opportunity to harness energy produced from ocean waves, tides or ocean currents, free flowing water in rivers, and other water resources…"
- DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE): "In the Pacific Northwest alone, it's feasible that wave energy could produce 40-70 kilowatts per meter (3.3 feet) of western coastline…"
- Fong Wan, vice president, PG&E: "Harnessing the ocean's energy on a utility scale is a critical achievement in renewable energy technology and this project represents our first step in that direction…"