| Oh buoy, wax your board for wave power |
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| Alternative Energy - Tidal Power |
| Monday, 13 October 2008 10:53 |
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Age Tuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 4 THE market loves a "green" story, regardless of how convenient or inconvenient the truth may be. The latest green tale comes from Perth"s Carnegie Corporation, which released details of an "independent report" stating wave power could provide 171,000 megawatts of electricity for Australia - four times our existing power generation. Carnegie Corporation managing director Michael Ottaviano said the report, by London based RPS MetOcean, found that Victoria has an "estimated near-shore wave energy resource of 18,000MW, almost double the state"s total installed power generation capacity". "Harnessing Victoria"s waves could generate 20% of the state"s current power needs," Ottaviano added. The market lapped it up, with Carnegie Corporation rising 26%, or 3.5¢ to 17¢ on the news. But it seems Carnegie Corporation has a different interpretation to Full Disclosure about what constitutes an independent report. In this case, Carnegie Corporation paid RPS MetOcean to do the work. When pressed on how much Carnegie Corporation paid RPS MetOcean, Ottaviano refused to answer. "Of course I can"t disclose that," he said. "Like with all our supply contracts, I can"t reveal the figures paid." Supply contract - an interesting choice of words. Also tucked away in the executive summary of the report is the following tidbit of information: "Wave data was sourced primarily from NOAA WaveWatch III modelling and compared to available measured data for seven sites across southern Australia." In English, that means the power estimates are based on computer modelling, and the only real data has come from seven buoys floating off Australia"s 36,000 km coastline. That"s one every 5140 km. And how many of those buoys are located in Victoria, where Carnegie Corporation hopes 18,000MW of power can be generated? None. Nada. Zip. The closest two are at Cape Sorell, on the west coast of Tasmania, and Eden in NSW. There"s another at Kangaroo Island and four are in WA. Ottaviano stands by the report. "It has been done by RPS MetOcean, a respected company, using tried and tested methods backed by facts and actual wave data gathered from 11 sites," he said. Except it"s seven sites, not it. Indeed, the estimates are largely based on WaveWatch III computer modelling - which British meteorological bodies say "has been found to overestimate the size of waves". "Yes, I am aware of that," Ottaviano told Full Disclosure. "But we have been deliberately conservative in our estimates because of that." Not as conservative as the nation"s previous Prime Minister, who rode wave power into the last election. "Wave energy, such as that being developed by Carnegie Corporation in Perth, is a leading innovative renewable energy technology," said John Howard back in October, before pledging $5 million to the company. |
Waves put in harness Daily TelegraphThursday 18/6/2009 Page: 23A MAJOR conservation group has backed the creation of energy by harnessing the power of the ocean swells which batter much of the Australian coast. WWF-Australia will release a report today claiming energy from waves close... Read more Tidal Power | | Wednesday, 24 June 2009 |
Wave power to create jobs www.news-mail.com.au18th June 2009Wave energy will provide clean, renewable power and thousands of Australian jobs for the future, according to a report. WWF-Australia has urged the federal government to invest in wave power following the release of a report on Thursday,... Read more Tidal Power | | TUSEDAY, 23 June 2009 |
Ocean currents can power the world The (UK) Telegraph has an article on the Vivace tidal / current power device I mentioned recently - Ocean currents can power the world, say scientistsThe technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one... Read more Tidal Power | | Decemberonday, 1 December 2008 |
Ocean grids around Europe By Frederik Groeman, Natalia Moldovan & Peter Vaessen, KEMA Several European countries have a policy to encourage the development of renewable en-ergy sources. This is identified in e.g. the European green paper Energy strategy for a sus-tainable, competitive and secure... Read more Tidal Power | | Novemberonday, 3 November 2008 |
Tidal Power in Nova ScotiaThe Globe and Mail has a report on tidal power in Canada, noting that "Nova Scotia is testing water-driven turbines that could produce 10 per cent of the province"s peak load" - Clean power comes in with the tide.Atlantic Canada"s... Read more Tidal Power | | TUSEDAY, 21 October 2008 |
Oh buoy, wax your board for wave powerAgeTuesday 30/9/2008 Page: 4THE market loves a "green" story, regardless of how convenient or inconvenient the truth may be. The latest green tale comes from Perth"s Carnegie Corporation, which released details of an "independent report" stating wave power could provide... Read more Tidal Power | | Octoberonday, 13 October 2008 |
Wave power could run nationSydney Morning HeraldMonday 29/9/2008 Page: 6THE power of waves close to Australia"s southern coastline can be harnessed to provide over a third of the nation"s electricity, research suggests. The energy swirling through the Southern Ocean could supply the nation"s power... Read more Tidal Power | | Octoberonday, 13 October 2008 |
Danish Wave Power Projects TreeHugger has a post on a raft of Danish wave power experimental projects - Three Wacky Danish Wave Power Projects.Portugal gets the distinction of having both the world"s first commercial wave power plant, Aguçadoura Wave Park, which officially opened last... Read more Tidal Power | | Octoberonday, 13 October 2008 |
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