I just went to an interesting talk on new techniques to harness marine energy at the RSA given by Prof Bihaj of Southampton University. One thing that struck me from an Innovation Junction viewpoint was his observation on the number of different technologies that existed for harnessing wind power and now we have one dominant form, the 3 bladed windmill. The technology finally stabilised. Right now we have multiple technologies competing to harness wind and tidal energy, will it take 20 years for a dominant technology to emerge ? What unique combination of technologies and political will is required to bring marine energy into being ? I got the impression that we are close to an economic solution but that another approach to harnessing the tides is required, one that can bring down prices by an order of magnitude.....
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