MORE NEWS, 4-15 (PBS GOES NEW ENERGY; UK OFFSHORE WIND SEEKS FUNDING; OREGON SITES TIDAL ENERGY TRY)

PBS GOES NEW ENERGY
PBS takes on global energy with Web-driven 'Planet Forward'
Doyle Rice, April 14, 2009 (USA Today)

"Creative solutions to solving the world's energy problems take center stage…in the PBS special Planet Forward, the brainchild of veteran TV newsman Frank Sesno.

["Planet Forward] showcases citizen-produced videos recently uploaded to the project's website…Videos are from such varied sources as Girl Scouts in Rochester, N.Y., explaining their use of solar energy in baking, to an animated segment by a Bangladeshi college student concerned about the potential of devastating sea-level rise in his home country."

click for the website to submit a video or watch videos

"Creator, host and managing editor Sesno says the show is secondary to the website…The project is a new type of citizen conversation, he says, that flows from the Web to television and back again…"

click for the website to submit a video or watch videos

"A creation of George Washington University's Public Affairs Project, [the show] invites creative discussion on energy topics that range from nuclear power to wind turbines, biodiesel to building technology and solar energy to sustainability…

"Taped two weeks ago at the university in Washington, D.C., the show features a panel discussion among energy and climate experts, who comment on and debate the content of the videos…"


UK OFFSHORE WIND SEEKS FUNDING
UK hopes Europe can save offshore wind farm
Robin Pagnamenta, April 8, 2009 (UK Times)

"Government plans to make Britain a global leader in green energy are set to be rescued by the European taxpayer.

"…[T]he European Investment Bank (EIB) is in talks with developers about a financial rescue package for the £3 billion London Array scheme, which is located in the Thames Estuary. Planned to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, it is a project that has strong personal backing from the Prime Minister."

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"Gordon Brown wants part of the renewable energy scheme finished before the 2012 Olympics.

"The UK desperately needs London Array to fulfil its ambitious target of generating 35 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

"Pleas for cash to the EIB, the long-term lending bank of the European Union, are a last-ditch attempt to save the project, which has suffered from a number of high-profile companies pulling out and fears over its funding…as a result of the credit crunch…"

click to enlarge

"Even the entry of the EIB may not safeguard the future of the plan to build up to 341 giant offshore windmills generating sufficient electricity to power 750,000 homes…

"The London Array project has been struggling since last May…E.ON, the German power group, and Dong Energy, a Danish company, have pressed ahead…Masdar, a $15 billion (£10 billion) renewable energy fund controlled by the Government of Abu Dhabi [also bought in]…"


OREGON SITES TIDAL ENERGY TRY
Ideal spot found for first wave of tidal power
Chris Fyall, April 14, 2009 (Snowhomish County HeraldNet)

"A tidal turbine built by an Irish company could land in a tidal energy sweet spot off Whidbey Island as soon as 2011, officials with the Snohomish County Public Utility District [PUD] announced…

"After looking for the ideal location in a wide swath of open water between Whidbey Island and the Olympic Peninsula, researchers have narrowed their focus to a small area roughly one square kilometer near the Keystone Ferry Terminal in Admiralty Inlet."

The OpenHydro tidal energy device. (click to enlarge)

"The area has fast currents, a flat sea-bottom and very few fish…

"[Jim Thomson, oceanographer with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Lab] helped lead a research vessel…[with] a robotic underwater camera, perhaps the only one operating in Puget Sound. The group collected data near Admiralty Inlet about water speed, water depth and marine populations.

"Researchers will spend the rest of the year revisiting the site and crunching numbers as part of a $100,000 effort funded by the Department of Energy…The U.S. Navy is planning a nearby tidal installation of its own, off Marrowstone Island, that could be installed in 2010…"

Another view of the OpenHydro device. (click to enlarge)

"When its site is selected, the PUD plans to drop a specially-built turbine built by OpenHydro, an Irish company that has installed some tidal turbines off the coast of Scotland…[OpenHydro will then] use a special barge to drop up to three turbines, which haven’t been built yet, onto the bottom of Admiralty Inlet. Installation won’t require any pilings, or pinning or drilling…At maximum capacity they could power roughly 700 homes…

"If the trial is successful, a turbine farm, with many tidal turbines, could be used to generate renewable energy for the Pacific Northwest…"