The Future of Clean, Alternative Energy

This is the AK-1000 tidal turbine soon to be installed on the seabed off Scotland.  Its 18-metre blades are expected to generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes, day in-day out.   In many coastal areas, tidal power is by far the most reliable.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, British Columbia has a fantastic site for this sort of turbine along the entire 120-km. narrows where Vancouver Island approaches the mainland.   The narrows, stretching from well north of Sayward south all the way to Campbell River, are known for incredibly fast, even treacherous currents.   In some spots even the orca wait patiently for slack tide before passing through.

The CEO of the company that makes the AK-1000, Timothy Cornelius, says tidal energy is now viable.  "We are at the start of a new industrial boom, akin to the development of the North Sea oil and gas fields. If we receive the same support from all levels of government that the oil and gas industry received to make the North Sea the success that it is, then the future is very bright for marine power and even brighter for Scotland."

Turning on Tidal Power

There are places along the east side of Vancouver Island that are structured like giant Venturi tubes, choke points where tidal currents get funneled in, producing powerful, even dangerous flows. There are places where fishing boats and orcas alike gather, waiting for the tide to change so they can dash through these narrows. Some of these flows are so powerful that they generate whirlpools big enough that, in the past, they were known to capsize unwary trawlers and send them to the bottom.

Even without the tides, the Pacific Ocean current sweeps these channels, funneled in through the Queen Charlotte Strait.

That's all energy. Free energy. Reliable as the moon itself. Two high tides, two low tides every day without fail. I've travelled through some of these spots in small boats and have marvelled at the awesome power that nature displays.

That's why I was excited to read at Grist.org today of an experimental tidal power project underway in Washington's Peuget Sound. The idea is for turbines to be placed on the seabed where they won't obstruct navigation and grabbing that energy as it passes by. This illustration gives an idea of the concept.




The project, a joint venture of the University of Washington and the Oregon State University is about to begin trials. If it works as well as expected it's hard to see why this same technology can't be put in place all the way from Quadra Island to the Queen Charlotte Straits. There's an almost unimagineable amount of energy that flows through all those narrows every day.