Wave Energy Club

The first meeting of the newly formed Wave Energy Club will be held at the Golf Tavern in Edinburgh on the 30th November 2016, at 8 pm. The Golf Tavern does not have the good fortune of dimensional transcendence, so places are limited.

Here is where to register: https://goo.gl/forms/8DRZumV2u4xkpjUt2.

Old Skool Significant Wave Height Calculator

Sometimes you just want a quick and dirty calculation of significant wave height and period. Back in the day, these were calculated using the zero crossings method, and this can still be used if you want to avoid Fourier shenanigans.  Here is a spread-sheet that will calculate zero-crossings period (\(T_z\)) and significant wave height (\(H_{1/3}\)). Now it's never been easier to check what scale of model yatch you should be using on your local duck pond! 8¬)

What floats SME's boat?

Last week I visited the Isle of Wight. I took the big old car ferry. As it left Southampton port, it was dwarfed by the behemoth container ships headed for China and the berthed oil takers pumping their cargos to the nearby oil refinery. With its gas flares and funnels, the refinery loomed like an alien palace – possibly beautiful, but not by standard human aesthetics. Next, the ferry passed a sizable fossil fuel power station, with the pylons heading off towards Southampton. As the ferry approached the Isle of Wight, the ugliness spawned by our efficient economy was replaced by a thing of beauty enabled by our prosperity: hundreds of sailing boats out for Cowes week. It was sunny and breezy and a gorgeous day for sailing. Dozens of identical red-sailed dinghies hugged the coastline. The old man sitting next to me on the ferry deck explained to his grandchildren that these were the sailing school boats.

Arriving in East Cowes port, to the left is a museum, which is on the site of the boatyard where the hovercraft and flying boat were first invented and built; to the right were the offices of SME (Sustainable Marine Energy), where I could spot someone having their lunch. I couldn’t resist trying my luck for an interview. My timing couldn’t have been more fortunate. There were very few people at the office – some were in Orkney installing the SME prototype onto the moorings they’d installed in June, using their own rock anchor method (see photos below). Others were of course sailing in Cowes week. Luckily the managing director Jason Hayman was there. I asked whether he had drawn the short straw in being stuck in the office. He said he’d actually just come back from Orkney and would be sailing himself later in the week.

Marine Renewable Energy for beginners

I’m very excited to welcome the participants of ‘One planet – one ocean’, a Massive Open Online Course. From watching earlier Q&A sessions, I can see that you come from all around the world, and from all walks of life. For those of you who would like to dig deeper into Topic 10.5, ‘Sustainable Energy from the Ocean’, I have put together this fact sheet (liberally sprinkled with opinion). I used the questions and comments you left next to this lecture to decide what to include. I will be a guest speaker on the Q&A session on Marine Renewables this Thursday. I am hoping that this blog post will spark the curiosity of those who were still deciding whether to listen in, and inspire thoughtful questions from those who already know they will be joining us.

This article covers the following topics: making the case for marine renewables, a list of the main features of the different types of marine renewables, a technology status update, a discussion of the current challenges, and some thoughts on how marine renewables could fit into a future low carbon energy mix.

Hangout with MOOC

MOOC stands for 'Massive Open Online Course'. There is a MOOC on the oceans running at the moment, and there are a couple of Google Hangouts this week that are relevant to ocean energy.

Reflections on Paimpont

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the INORE (International Network for Offshore Renewable Energy) symposium last week.

All Energy 2016

All Energy was much diminished in size this year. However, it was not diminished in spirit - I sensed projects were progressing, and that the marine energy industry had adjusted to the slower pace. The traditional big vs small debate seems to have been side-lined by the emerging trend for a dual track development process: there are projects aimed at utility-scale markets, as well as those aimed at niche markets.

What has the last 10 years taught us?

INORE now has its very own blog. To kick it off I have written a summary of the panel session that was held in association with ICOE 2016.