South East leading the way in development of marine renewable energy
We already have hydro-electricity and growing wind and biomass energy industries but there are other opportunities out there too. Harnessing marine renewable energy, more specifically wave and tidal stream energy, is not new but it is only now that we are focussing on making it a reality.
Marine renewable energy can provide a significant contribution to our energy needs in the future. We have a huge untapped resource in the UK, but we need to put in place the technology, infrastructure and support to make best use of this clean inexhaustible energy supply.
The Anaconda project being developed by Checkmate Seaenergy uses an entirely novel concept to harvest wave energy. This resource is free and widely available to the UK and Eire as well as other countries with west facing ocean seaboards.
The inventors (Professors Rod Rainey and Francis Farley FRS) have developed the concept of a distensible rubber tube, floating head to sea, in which bulge waves are excited by passing sea waves. The bulge waves are then used to drive a turbine generator. It is the long ocean swells which have most energy; developed by winds over hundreds or thousands of miles; these are the ones Anaconda uses. This is a particularly rich, but as yet untapped, energy resource which Government studies state could produce 3% - 5% of our electricity initially and up to 20% eventually.
The Anaconda team has now developed the concept in the most rigorous way to produce information which shows that Anaconda has the potential to be one of the most cost effective sources of renewable energy. The Seaenergy team is now embarking on a research and development programme which will develop the system and demonstrate what Anaconda is capable of.
Initial model tests carried out at Southampton University, have shown correlation between actual results and those of the theory. The interaction of the bulge tube with the surrounding sea waves is very complex and is the subject of an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council grant funded study lead by Professor John Chaplin, Fluid Dynamics. The study will result in a detailed numerical model of the bulge tube being developed and will help us to optimise tube efficiency in real sea conditions.
If you would like to find out more log onto http://www.checkmateuk.com and click on seaenergy.
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