Clean energy from the tides
Strong tidal stream currents are a site-specific, but concentrated,
resource. Our planet’s tides are complex, and there are a number of factors that affect a location’s tidal resource, including
- Tidal patterns
- Coastal topography
- The shape and shelves of the sea-bed
- Funnelling in estuaries
The Carbon Trust estimates that the UK tidal resource accounts for approximately half of the total European resource and approximately 10–15% of the known global resource (Carbon Trust Tidal Stream Energy Report 2005), estimating economically exploitable UK tidal stream resource to be 12TWh/yr.
According to the Global Energy Network Institute, other areas of strong tidal resource include offshore northeast South America, southwest Central America, eastern Africa, the Gulf of Alaska, and the north and east rims of the North Atlantic.
Demand for tidal energy will be driven especially by its predictability - believed to be the highest among all sources of renewable energy.
