This talk, taped last Fall at the Woods Energy seminar, is Marine Energy Technology 101. It explains in simple terms the types of energy that we can harness from the ocean, and discusses the latest technologies in wave power extraction and tidal current devices.
I've since embarked on a tidal energy project in collaboration with Julie Young, a turbine and propeller engineer at Princeton University. We are planning to create a design optimization tool for tidal turbines, and our guess is they will look quite different from the tidal turbines you see in this talk. Will keep you posted!

Dr. Scott Couch from the Institute of Energy Studies in Edinburgh, Scotland, is an expert on tidal and wave energy systems. We talked to him in Stromness, Orkney, about the current state of the technology and economic feasibility of marine energy projects. As I wrote in the Ocean Power blog on this site, Scotland is a world leader in marine energy, and Scott mentions various sites around the Orkney Islands, in particular the Pentlant Firth.

The ferry to the mainland makes its way from Stromness around the island of Hoy.

If you’re looking for a nice hotel that’s keeping a sharp eye on its carbon footprint, you’ll want to check out the Crown Spa Hotel. It’s in Scarborough, on the Yorkshire coast, but if you can get there, you’ll find that the management and staff at this hotel are taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and energy usage (proving the important point that energy savings is a cost savings!) I asked manager David Franks what drives him and his colleagues. Meet this enthusiastic and dedicated energy saver. And, if you happen to know a good place for him to buy 100 square meters of solar panels, let us know…