India is the latest country to start using tidal power with the announcement of its first commercial scale tidal current power plant to be constructed in the Indian State of Gujarat.

Following a recent economic and technical study of prime sites in the Gulf of Kutch by Atlantis Resources Corporation, which yielded the discovery of as much as 300MW of economically extractable tidal power resources, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narenda Modi, this week approved a 50MW tidal power project to be constructed in the Gulf of Kutch.

The project will see Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd. partner with London-based Atlantis Resources Corporation. Both companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government for the project, which could commence construction as early as this year.

The largest hydro-electric wave energy device was launched by Queen’s University Belfast, Aquamarine Power Ltd. and the Scottish government recently. Called Oyster, it is the only hydro-electric wave energy device producing power in the world.

While officially launching Oyster at the European Marine Energy Centre, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond pointed out the many benefits of this technology and the commitment of the Scottish government to advance it. He said:

“Our waters hold around ten per cent of Europe’s wave power potential and as much as a quarter of its tidal power potential. The European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) provides world-leading test facilities for Aquamarine and other companies to develop the technology needed to harness this huge untapped potential.

“I am delighted to confirm further R&D funding of almost £1m to Aquamarine Power for the development of Oyster 2, which could be installed within two years. Through our investments and initiatives such as the Saltire Prize, the Scottish Government is working to ensure we capitalize on our rich natural resources, to meet our ambitious climate change targets, to create more high-skilled green jobs and to make a substantial contribution to one of the most pressing global challenges.”

Any fledgling technology is going to have its troubles gaining ground but trying to get a foothold during an economic crisis is doubly hard. Such is the lesson currently being learned by tidal power as yet another major wave power company, Pelamis Wave Power, announces it is pulling its tidal power generators out of the water.

The three generators, which were off the coast of Portugal, were yanked out due to “technical and financial difficulties.”

The removal of the Pelamis Wave Power project along with the wrecking of Verdant Powers East River project in New York has brought the world’s totally number of wave power projects down to 19 (although Verdant Power’s project may be reinstalled).

While both nature and the credit crisis wage a war of attrition on current tidal power projects, new projects are also meeting resistance. Recently, Vancouver, British Columbia’s Finavera Renewables decided to opt out of the wave power industry when the California’s Public Utilities Commission sank its plans for a project there.

All news isn’t bad however, as San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom is still pushing ahead with plans for a large wave power project that could produce as much as 100 MW in the Bay Area. The U.K. is also mapping the currents of its coastal regions in anticipation of sinking more money into wave power.

Ahh the East End of Long Island – the Hamptons. Known for sandy white beaches, beautiful scenery, Alec Baldwin, adorable hamlets and a population of the rich and famous who own lavish, oceanfront homes – the Hamptons is a prime location for many Americans who live the dream. However, with the continual climate change, as Jimi Hendrix warned, “And so castles made of sand melt into the sea, eventually.”

Oceanfront homes in the Hamptons town of Wainscott are slipping into the ocean due to erosion brought on by high winds. The continuous pounding of the surf has wiped away so much land that many of the houses sit just feet from the cliff drop-off.

“These houses are sitting ducks,” Larry Penny, the director of the town’s Natural Resources Department told the New York Post. “The erosion is relentless. We don’t see any relief in sight.”

Many Hamptons beaches are lined with top-end mansions, which are fabulous in theory, but have given their owners some serious nightmares. In 1991, Hurricane Bob struck and caused monumental damage – and the East End is long overdue for another hurricane.

Actor Ted Danson, a member on Oceana’s Board of Directors, was testifying before Congress on Capitol Hill yesterday about the importance of reinstating the lapsed moratorium on offshore oil drilling.

Danson’s appeal came just a day after there was a review ordered on the controversial Bush Administration’s plan to open vast tracts of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and gas drilling.

The 26-year-old ban on drilling in over 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf, including Atlantic, Pacific and Alaskan waters was allowed to expire under the Bush Administration last October. Now, Congress is deciding whether to reinstate the ban or place new limits on off-shore drilling. The major concern for anti-drilling activists such as Danson is to make sure that the moratorium for offshore drilling is reinstated. Approximately 120 million gallons of oil are discharged into the world’s oceans each year.

“Oil and water simply don’t mix,” said Danson. “While not intentional, oil spills do happen and they harm everything from the smallest ocean organisms to the largest predators in the sea.”

Danson also stressed the importance of clean and carbon-free energy, such as offshore wind and solar power. According to recent estimates, the offshore wind industry could generate nearly $950 billion in economic activity and more than 250,000 jobs over the next 20 years.

Philippe Cousteau, grandson of Jean Jacques Cousteau and Member of the Ocean Conservancy, also joined Danson.

If we do not reinstate this moratorium “there is essentially no protection for land that may carry oil” and we will “perpetuate the belief that we can drill our way to energy independence” Danson commented.

Cousteau argued that “the next 50 years are crucial in oceanic protection” and “since the united states has taken a leading role in the environmental protection movement we must reinstate the moratorium to maintain this role.”

Our friends at Eco Geek are reporting that the Scottish government is investing in the mapping of potential sources of tidal power. The project is being called the Marina Spatial Plan and will map the tidal and wind energy of the northern parts of Scotland. It will also go the extra step of analyzing the seabed, water depth and distance to shore so it’s definitely being done with the instalment of devices to harness the energy in mind.

Based on this map of the world’s wind power, Scotland has more than it’s fair share of the stuff to harvest. I’m no tidal expert but it’s probably safe to say that the tidal energy of northern Scotland will prove to be pretty fruitful as well.

The mapping of renewable energy sources is an important and growing component to the whole renewable energy industry. Currently the wind power industry is looking for assistance from the U.S. federal government to expand wireless Internet in rural areas to help gather information from wind turbines with wireless Internet capabilities. With info coming directly from the wind turbines themselves extremely detailed wind maps would become available to the industry.

Source: Eco Geek

Lockheed is partnering with wave power company Ocean Power Technologies to develop a utility-scale project off the coast of California or Oregon. Lockheed will construct and run the project while Ocean Power will provide its Powerbuoy generators. OPT’s PowerBuoy system extracts the natural energy in ocean waves, and is based on the integration of patented technologies in hydrodynamics, electronics, energy conversion and computer control systems. The PowerBuoy is a sophisticated system capable of responding to differing wave conditions.The Lockheed-Ocean Power project would be the first commercial wave farm which generates reliable, clean, and environmentally-beneficial electricity in the U.S.

This is a big green step for Lockheed, and a real forward thinking investment in the company’s future. By getting into wave power, Lockheed is doing it’s best to solidify it’s place in the future’s more eco-friendly business world. Oceans are considered by scientists and engineers to be one of the most powerful sources of energy on earth and studies have shown that harnessing that energy could power the entire planet twice over.

Ocean Power Technologies and the United States Navy have joined forces to build a small wave farm off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii. The company has installed a PowerBuoy unit a mile off the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corp Base, with plans to install others in the near future to generate 1MW. The units are just 12 feet in diameter and 55 feet long and can they be arranged in larger arrays that generate hundreds of megawatts of clean power. This endeavor is part of the Navy’s long term goal of reducing their dependence on fuel for power.