Carbon Trust to take plane propellers under water

The Carbon Trust has announced that it is to divide £1m in funding across five research teams as part of a new Marine Energy Accelerator initiative designed to adapt technologies developed in established industries for the emerging marine energy sector.

The initiative, which is part of a wider Carbon Trust plan with the goal of making wave and tidal energy commercially viable by 2020, will primarily focus on applying component technologies developed in the aviation and offshore oil and gas industries to marine turbines.

Mark Williamson, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, said that the UK was already leading the world in its development of marine energy systems, adding that the country had the potential to generate over a fifth of its power from the sea.

He said that the aim of the funding was to accelerate the development of robust and commercially viable marine energy systems and ensure that the UK's leadership in the sector is maintained.

In the face of the economic downturn, these companies are at the forefront of an energy revolution that will see the creation of thousands of green collar jobs and a boost to the UK's economy," he added.

The government has long maintained that the UK's experience in the North Sea oil and gas sector should provide it with a valuable skills base for developing both offshore wind and wave and tidal technologies.

Under the scheme, Aviation Enterprises will receive funding to accelerate work on optimising tidal turbine blade design and testing the durability of metal joints, while engineering firms Tension Technology International and Mac Taggart Scott will receive funding to step up research into new robust mooring systems and reliable hydraulic generators.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh University is to receive financing for research into next generation linear generators for wave devices while JP Kenny is to use the funding to investigate the engineering feasibility of using hydraulic arrays for power transmission from wave and tidal farms to the shore.