Tidal

A huge amount of water is moved by the tides on a daily basis, which could be the source of a reliable and plentiful energy supply.

The main schemes involve building a dam across a tidal estuary, and channelling the tidal flow through turbines. While this produces a predictable and reliable amount of energy (albeit only for 10 hours of the day), there are many questions about possible damage to ecosystems upstream of any dam – and of course costs are often prohibitive.

One alternative (as in the Severn Estuary proposal) involves building a set of lagoons (see links page). These could produce as much electricity at a lower cost – both economically and environmentally.

Another method of using tidal power uses underwater turbines on individual masts (similar to wind turbines).

The fact remains that we do have a vast, relatively untapped source of renewable energy surrounding us. Surely it would be folly to ignore it?