Dec 30 2008

Making Waves in Scotland

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

With 745 miles of coastline, California could potentially meet more than a fifth of its electricity needs from renewable ocean wave power, according to the California Energy Commission.

But while the state does little to develop that immense resource, Scotland took a great leap forward this month with the announcement of the Saltire Prize--worth 10 million British pounds--for the best innovation in marine energy technology. Already, the prize has reportedly attracted 33 entries from five continents.

The huge award will go to the team that best delivers, off the Scottish coast, "a commercially viable wave or tidal energy technology that achieves a minimum electrical output of 100 GWh over a continuous two-year period using only the power of the sea."

Scotland isn't placing all its wave power bets on the prize, however. A Scottish firm, Pelamis Wave Power Ltd., installed the world's first commercial ocean electricity generators off the coast of Portugal in September and plans similar installations in Scotland and England. It is already considered a world leader in the technology.

Also in September, Scottish Power said it was considering three coastal sites to install the world's biggest tidal power project by 2011.

Scotland first minister Alex Salmond said he hoped the latter announcement was a harbinger of things to come. "Scotland has a marine energy resource which is unrivalled in Europe," he said. "We have an estimated 25 per cent of Europe's tidal resource and 10 per cent of its wave potential."

Scotland's Saltire prize is reminiscent of the $10 million Ansari X Prize, which went to Burt Rutan and Paul Allen for launching the first reusable private spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.

It has since spawned numerous imitators that seek to benefit society by rewarding breakthrough innovation and entrepreneurship. For example, the Automotive X PRIZE will award multi-million dollar cash prizes to the best design of a marketable vehicle capable of achieving 100 miles per gallon.

So, while California makes millionaires through the lottery, Scotland will make some through  the Saltire Prize. Is a moral to be found somewhere?

 

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