Assessing the Environmental Effects of Tidal Turbines

A demonstration project planned for Puget Sound will be the first tidal energy project on the west coast of the United States, and the first array of large-scale turbines to feed power from ocean tides into an electrical grid.

University of Washington researchers are devising ways to site the tidal turbines and measure their environmental effects. Brian Polagye, UW research assistant professor of mechanical engineering, will present recent findings this week in an invited talk at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in San Francisco.

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Tidal Energy in WA, ME, AK

For eons, powerful tides have raged through Puget Sound, ripping along at 11 feet per second at their peak, predictable as the phases of the moon. Three years from now, a local utility hopes to begin converting a portion of that raw energy to electricity, part of a growing effort to harness the tides to power homes and businesses miles from the smell of salt air.

The Snohomish County Public Utility District's pilot project is small - two turbines with 500 kilowatts of total capacity and an average output of 50 kilowatts - hardly a panacea for all that ails the United States' energy portfolio. But tidal power is garnering increasing attention as a niche supplier of renewable alternative energy in Washington, Maine and Alaska. The tides, some say, have the potential to light five percent of the nation's homes - nearly nine gigawatts of generating power.

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West Coast Wave Energy Framework Open for Public Comment

Pacific Energy Ventures, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is collaborating with stakeholders to develop a Planning & Assessment Framework that outlines environmental information relevant to developing and permitting wave energy projects offshore California, Oregon, and Washington. The project is now focused on collecting stakeholder input on options to address key data gaps. A survey designed to present the draft options and collect stakeholder input is available now through October 7, 2010. Once stakeholder input is collected, the project team will summarize the feedback in a final report to be shared with the DOE and all interested parties.

Click on this link to participate in the survey.