Introduction to Wave and Tidal energy
Colin Palmer
40 years: Renewable energy
Wave and tidal energy are, subjectively, both abundant and powerful sources of natural energy. In this video, Colin explains the reason why wave energy is much less commercialised than wind and solar energy and the challenges surrounding wave energy development. He further talks about the cost differential between wave, tidal and offshore wind energies.
Wave and tidal energy are, subjectively, both abundant and powerful sources of natural energy. In this video, Colin explains the reason why wave energy is much less commercialised than wind and solar energy and the challenges surrounding wave energy development. He further talks about the cost differential between wave, tidal and offshore wind energies.
Introduction to Wave and Tidal energy
11 mins
Wave and tidal energy are, subjectively, both abundant and powerful sources of natural energy. Despite this “common sense”observation, they are both at a very early stage of development when compared to the other marine based renewable energy, offshore wind energy. Individual offshore wind projects are sized in GW, yet the total global wave energy deployment to date is only a few MW, tidal energy maybe a few tens of MW.
Both wave and tidal energy have been researched in great detail over the years, most notably, for wave energy, during the UK wave energy programme of the late 1970s. Around the same time, the development of tidal barrages in locations such as the River Severn was investigated. More recently, government and commercial research has switched to tidal stream technologies, with prototypes now starting to be deployed. The costs of these technologies are at present several times that of offshore wind.
Even if these developments do succeed in driving costs down to a competitive level, the resources for both wave energy and tidal energy are more limited and localised than for offshore wind.
Key learning objectives:
Define WealthTech and its future drivers
Explain why wave energy is much less commercialised than wind and solar energy
Explain the difference between tidal barrages and tidal stream technologies
Contrast the cost differential between wave, tidal and offshore wind energies
Colin Palmer
Related videos
The Drivers of Widespread Renewable Energy Adoption
The oil price shocks of the mid-1970s caused the developed economies to investigate renewable energy based alternatives to fossil fuels. In this video, Colin explains the factors that triggered the rise of renewable energy and enabled its growth. He further describes how the costs of renewable power have changed over time and the technologies required to enable the widespread adoption of renewable energy generation.
Colin Palmer • 14:02
Introduction to Wind Energy
Energy from the wind has been used by mankind for thousands of years, but has become outdated since the early twentieth century. Join Colin as he explains why there was a revival in wind energy in the 1907s and how the industry developed. He further talks about the square-cube law and its relevance to wind turbines.
Colin Palmer • 15:41
Renewables Jargon Buster
Like any industry, the world of renewables has its own share of jargon which can be inaccessible to outsiders. Renewable energy has changed and grown dramatically in recent years. In a world awash with fake news, it has not been difficult for these people to promote and perpetuate a number of myths designed to undermine confidence in these technologies. A few of the more egregious ones are discussed in this video.
Colin Palmer • 17:33
Introduction to Solar Energy
A tenfold cost reduction over the last ten years has caught many unaware, and solar PV is now set to be the largest source of renewable energy in the future. In this video, Colin explains how the conversion of sunlight to electricity in solar panels helped the industry develop. He further explains why and how solar energy generation will become ubiquitous.
Colin Palmer • 13:47
Introduction to Energy Storage Technology
Key to the generation of high proportions of power from inherently variable renewable energy sources is the use of energy storage. Storage is necessary to both smooth out short term mismatches between supply and demand and to balance longer-term, inter-seasonal differences. In this video, Colin describes the present and future energy storage technologies including how new manufacturing models are being used for batteries and solar panels.
Colin Palmer • 10:57
The Historic Underestimation of Renewable Generation
In this video, Colin explains how the International Energy Agency's predictions for renewable energy have changed in the last 20 years. He also explains the S curve model of technical change and finishes by highlighting the space requirements for renewable energies.
Colin Palmer • 09:51
Introduction to Solar Thermal Energy
In this video on decarbonising heat, Christophe introduces the staggering potential of solar energy and the progress in solar panel technology. He also covers the problems of distribution, the enormous task of transitioning to renewable energy cost effectively and the means by which to achieve this. Finally, he discusses about the next 30 years of solar heat.
Christophe Williams • 10:13