Our Nation's Future
Making waves on the south coast
- Capturing energy
In preparation for his speech, the Prime Minister looked at a number of schemes which are offering excellence and best practise across the scientific field. Here we report on one project which has made an outstanding contribution to the industry.
A Southampton-based firm is leading the way in harnessing the power of the sea to produce clean energy.
Tony Blair said recent that renewable sources would play a vital part in future energy policy and he thinks C-Wave is a great example of ground-breaking science with practical applications.
Waves travel great distances and transport energy thousands of miles from windy weather in mid-ocean to our coastlines.
Giles Edward, CEO of C-Wave explains how he intends to capture this energy.
"The technology exists to ensure that wave power can rapidly become a key contributor to the UK's carbon emission reduction strategy - wave energy farms can make a real difference by providing renewable electricity from small areas of the sea with no environmental impact."
C-Wave's floating wave farms [pictured] will be in deep water, 5-10 km off the UK shore.
Anybody who has tried to climb from one boat into another on a wavy sea will understand the operating principle of C-Wave's plans.
As the boats sit next to each other, the gap between them is continually opening and closing requiring a carefully timed jump to get from one to the other.
C-Wave plan to use this continual movement to drive a generator and produce electricity.
The result is compact, cost effective and emission-free energy generation which will survive the worst battering of ocean waves.
The company plan to establish their first grid-connected wave power station off the UK coast within three to four years.
Their concept has been proven through extensive research and wave-tank testing.
C-Wave are based at the SETsquared business centre at Southampton University where they benefit from close consultancy links with key University departments.
"Science is vital to Britain's future"