EnAlgae will establish a series of pilot scale seaweed farms and microalgae growth facilities in the region to provide the crucial information needed to assess the productivity of algae production in North West Europe.

This information will be used to better understand the economics and greenhouse gas balances of making fuel, energy and other products from algae. The project will also develop a computer-based tool to inform decision makers about how and where algae could be grown in the region.

Algae lead at the NNFCC Dr Claire Smith said “Algae offers significant potential for the sustainable production of energy and fuels. Much of the focus so far has been on the production of algae in more favourable climates, such as the US, but there is a distinct lack of information about how algae grow at scale in more challenging climates,”

“The EnAlgae project will allow us to look seriously at the potential of algae for the UK and the NNFCC are delighted to offer our expertise in developing markets for sustainable algal bioenergy production.”

Algae project manager- Dr Robin Shields from the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research at Swansea University, said “The EnAlgae expert partnership has been formed to develop and implement technologies tailored to the unique socio-economic and environmental conditions of North West Europe,”

“Thanks to close transnational cooperation, EnAlgae partners and stakeholders will gain access to those sustainable technologies most suited to their local operating conditions.”

EnAlgae is jointly funded under the European Regional Development Fund by the North West Europe INTERREG IVB North West Europe programme, the Welsh Government’s Targeted Match Fund and other other organisations.

The AK1000 was developed by Atlantis Resources Corporation in Iverngordon, Scotland.  It is programmed for installation at the European Marine Energy Centre off Orkney later this year.

The turbine is rated at 1 Megawatt and is expected to produce enough electricity for the annual needs of 1000 homes.  It has been specifically designed for the hostile north sea waters and is 22.5 metres high with an 18 metre rotor diameter.  The low rotor speed has been designed to reduce marine life impacts.

CEO of Atlantis Timothy Cornelius said: “The unveiling and installation of the AK1000 is an important milestone, not only for Atlantis, but for the marine power industry in the United Kingdom. It represents the culmination of 10 years of hard work, dedication and belief from all our partners, staff, directors and shareholders. The AK1000 is capable of unlocking the economic potential of the marine energy industry in Scotland and will greatly boost Scotland’s renewable generation capacity in the years to come.”

“ Today is not just about our technology, it is about the emergence of tidal power as a viable asset class that will require the development of local supply chains employing local people to deliver sustainable energy to the local grid. The AK1000 takes the industry one step closer to commercial scale tidal power projects.”

The workhorse tidal turbine is to a significant degree a British project with the nacelle fabricated in Newcastle and steel for the turbine from Corus’ Scunthorpe steel plant.

Picture taken from Atlantis Resources Corporation website.

Overall, reduced solar PV prices are expected to boost the industry with global installations predicted to total 20.2 Gigawatts in 2011. Even in Germany and Italy where incentives via feed in tariffs have been significantly cut, return on investment is predicted to be in the 8-10% range.

iSuppli’s de Haan said “iSuppli believes 2012 will be the year when the PV industry weans itself from the generosity of German subsidies …The German market will cool off and expand by only 4 to 5GW per year for the next several years. We believe the government aims to keep an orderly progression in order to achieve an ultimate goal of around 80GW of installed PV capacity.”

Although cuts in government feed in tariffs have had an impact in some countries, new incentives have appeared in others such as the UK.

iSuppli says the feed in tariff (FIT) cuts in some european countries will make the UK market more attractive to PV suppliers. The currently higher UK PV material and installation costs are also expected to come down potentially creating a boom in solar interest. The danger is that if solar does expand rapidly in the UK, the public will start to realise how much it is costing via the FIT leading to a sharp reduction in the rate. This is one of the down-sides to feed in tariffs, particularly those benefiting from rates substantially above standard electricity prices. The end result can mean a boom and bust market rather than a sustainable one attracting long term players.

The figures show that emission levels stood at 56.9 million tonnes in 2007, but have been reduced 19% on 1990 levels. The carbon cuts are credited to greener energy production through increased use of renewable energy, business and industry, the public sector, waste management, international shipping, housing and agriculture. The bad news is that emissions from international aviation and shipping have increased.

Power generation accounted for 36% of emissions, 22% from transport, 14% from agriculture and 13% from business and domestic fossil fuel use. The Scottish Government has committed to a 42% reduction in carbon emissions from 1990 levels, by 2020 and 80% by 2050.

Climate Change Minister Stewart Stevenson said “These figures for 2007 are good news, which show that we are making continued progress in reducing our emissions against the 1990 baseline. The data also demonstrates the size of the task now facing us, and the rest of the world, in reducing emissions”

“While the reductions were generally seen as positive, some believe the Scottish government is not doing enough in the fight against climate change” said Stevenson.

Labour’s Des McNulty said: “Missing from the SNP government’s legislative programme last week were measures on transport, energy and other key sectors to meet the interim targets.

“The government should be focusing on reducing car use and investing in public transport, yet the only legislation coming forward in the next year is for the road-only Forth replacement crossing.”

WWF Scotland director Richard Dixon cautioned: “The big drop from the previous year only really shows Scotland getting back on track after burning much more coal than usual in 2006.

“There are big challenges to change transport policy, insulate more homes faster and reduce emissions from farming, but our targets are exactly the sort of level that every industrialised country needs to aim for if we are to head off the worst extremes of climate change.”

Sustainable transport organisation Transform Scotland said that although the figures were positive there was little chance of meeting climate change targets while emissions from the transport sector continued to rise.

Stephen Peacock, Director at the South West Regional Development Agency said: “This is about a new industry and new jobs, and the South West’s critical role in building a greener global economy. Being identified as the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area is a tremendous accolade and recognition of our commitment to develop this unprecedented economic opportunity. We want to forge a new industry from the seas around our shores and today’s announcements cement our position as a global leader in wave and tidal technologies”.

The South West Regional Development Agency’s (RDA) renewable baby is The Wave Hub. The South West RDA wants the hub to be the UK’s first offshore facility with the ability to demonstrate the operation of wave energy generation devices.

Different wave energy devices are being developed in the UK and abroad to generate electricity from the energy created by waves. After the devices have been tested as prototypes, the Wave Hub provides an area of marine environment with grid connection and planning consent where arrays of devices can be operated over several years.

The Wave Hub has however had a difficult ride with the South West RDA struggling on with the project after the EU and Westminster pulled out. The UK government will now however give the project new life with £9.5m ($US 15.5m) investment. A further £20m ($US 32.5) for Wave Hub will come from the European Regional Development Fund and £12.5m ($US 20.5) from the South West RDA itself.

The project is now expected to cost £29m ($47.5) more than originally envisaged but the RDA defended the rise saying it still represents value for money.

The infrastructure involves a sub-station building at Hayle adjacent to a connection point to the distribution network. From there, a cable will be taken via a duct beneath the sand dunes and then across the sea bed to an eight square kilometre area within which the devices will be moored. This area will be identified by floating markers.

The system will operate initially at 11kv and orders have now been placed for the sub-sea cable with installation expected in the spring and summer of 2010.

The RDA is currently inviting approaches from wave energy developers wanting to take leases to install devices from 2010 onwards. Ocean Power Technologies is set to test its PowerBuoy at Wave Hub but no other developers have yet been confirmed.

Pelamis was the world’s first commercial scale machine to produce offshore grid connected, wave generated electricity. A new commercial Pelamis wave energy machine is now being built for utility giant E.on in Scotland.

Anaconda is a 200 metre rubber tube with a hydraulic turbine driving a 1MW capacity electric generator. Anaconda’s developer – Checkmate Seaenergy say the wave energy device has the potential to generate renewable electricity off any coast with wave strength over 25 kW/m. Checkmate Seaenergy has a vision of the snakes being grouped in farms with 20 or more machines producing over 20 MW.

The Carbon Trust told us several years ago that 20% of UK’s current electricity demands could be met by wave and tidal energy. The Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition says 252 million megawatt hours a year could be generated off the coast of the US and the World Energy Council has said 1 million gigawatt hours of wave energy hits Australian shores annually.

Huge efforts are being made to tap into energy from moving water and investors are starting to take an interest. The International Wave Energy Summit is to hold a Dragon’s Den for wave energy technologies in London this year. The summit to be held on the 30th June and 1st July is offering a chance for companies to pitch their wave business to potential financial investors.

The Dragons are described by organisers “Wave Energy Today” as having “a wealth of experience and expertise in backing energy projects which you can leverage to build a great business plan“. Each contender has 5 minutes to present their wave business demonstrating technical ability and future plans to the panel of Dragons. First hand feedback is then to be given by the Wave Dragons.

In the UK to date marine technology R&D has been funded by government subsidised body The Carbon Trust. The Trust set up the Marine Energy Accelerator funding program to dish out £3.5 million over a period between 2007 and 2010. To date around half of this has been spent on wave energy Anaconda and tidal stream generator Deep Green.

Many involved in the marine industry point to cost being the current major problem with harsh sea conditions requiring tough technology and giving further problems relating to installation.

Vestas is the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer although its market share fell last year, partly due to the entry of 35 new Chinese wind turbine manufacturers. In this video Vestas CEO, Ditlev Engel talks about why the US is important to Vestas and its plans for increasing the number of green collar jobs at its manufacturing plant from 1300 to 4000.

Engel describes the US as having the “best wind resource in the world” but when asked whether the economic stimulus package would help the industry he responded “one answer – banks“. Engel points out that demand for wind turbines and financing are two separate issues. Whilst demand for wind turbines is very strong, the banks need to start doing their job and fund projects again. Engel said “Once funding starts flowing again…good things will start to move and the stimulus package will help break the ice“.

The company’s website says that it is already developing full 10MW wind turbine component and system designs. The contract for the research will allow the full cost of the turbines to be established and is expected to speed up commercial viability.

Wind turbines have been rapidly increasing in size over the last 20 years (in terms of physical size and energy output) with a typical turbine today having a 3MW capacity generator. The further growth of wind turbines is however restricted in part due to the size and weight of the generator and construction issues surrounding raising the components over 80 metres in the air.

The new 10 MW turbines will utilise “superconductor technology” including a direct drive generator and lighter components allowing the wind turbine to operate more efficiently, carrying greater amounts of power safely and reliably.

AMSC says the new turbine will leverage “superconductivity’s high power density and enhanced electrical efficiency… rotating machines that incorporate AMSC’s High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) wire can be as little as one-third the weight and half the size of comparably powered traditional alternatives. Reducing their size and weight frees valuable real estate that often can be turned into additional revenue generation or amenities.”

Furthermore it is claimed that HTS rotating machines “typically exhibit as little as half the electrical losses of a conventional machine when at full power“.

The use of high temperature superconductors are expected by both parties to lower the overall cost of wind energy in the US. However in the UK one of the key constraints in areas of high wind speed – particularly in Scotland and Wales is road access for blade delivery. Turbine blade lengths are now typically 45 metres plus and it is likely that many areas of the UK with good wind resource will not have suitable access to accommodate any further increases in turbine generator size (due to the required blade size). Solutions such as two -part turbine blades could open up these potential sites, although the UK is a relatively small market and manufacturers currently do not seem to be prioritising such technology.

Original proposals were to fit Flue Gas Desulphurisation technology to reduce emissions from the power station before the new EU regulations come into force in 2015 making it unfeasible to continue operation. However proposals for a new power station “potentially” with carbon capture technology came to light several years ago.

YANC, a group campaigning against new coal generating power stations in Yorkshire have revealed in a survey that 71% of those interviewed said renewable energy should be developed instead of new coal.

Coal has long been part of Yorkshire’s history however 94% of those surveyed did not want fossil fuel generation. Some MP’s however do not seem to reflect residents views, for example Caroline Flint has refused to oppose the controversial plan but was happy to object to a wind farm proposed in her constituency a few years ago.