Wave and tidal power: combating climate change

Dr Rachel Nicholls-Lee MEng CEng MRINA CMarEng MIMarEST MWES 

We are seeing the effects of Climate Change all around us – with unseasonal extreme storms, acute droughts and wildfires raging out of control.  Closer to home we have seen catastrophic flooding, intense heatwaves and the Isles of Scilly under a thick blanket of snow.  The state of the climate and the health of our planet’s living systems are intimately linked, and changes in one will radically affect the other.

There is no one solution to the problem.  The cause, however, has been universally identified as man – so how can we reduce the problem in years to come.  A clear focus is on the Energy Mix – altering the balance of this from the current primary sources of fossil fuels to more renewable and sustainable sources in future. 

Marine renewables, such as wave and tidal energy, have a key part to play in this change.  This lecture provides an overview of both the global and UK marine energy sectors, and technologies being developed to harvest energy from these sources.  The challenges to the industry are explored as is the future potential.  Lastly the focus is on you – how can you get involved and what can you do to help?