The future of a device that could power the entire UK with clean wave energy is under threat because of a lack of funding.
The Searaser wave energy converter was lauded as one of the cheapest and most efficient methods of producing clean energy when creator Alvin Smith developed it last year, but the device has had applications for funding rejected. Dartmouth Wave Energy, which produces the device, will meet with the South West Regional Development Agency tomorrow in a bid to finally obtain some financial back-up.
Over the past year, Dartmouth Wave Energy has lobbied Environment Secretary Hilary Benn and even written to Gordon Brown in order to secure funding for the Searaser system, but the applications have been rejected.
The Searaser is designed to pump hundreds of gallons of water uphill from the sea, after which it can flow downhill and drive hydroelectric generators. Smith has been testing the prototype and cannot understand why he has not attained financial support for the project.
He said: “It’s ludicrous, we have a working product here and the only thing stopping us is a lack of funding. We have been producing the devices ourselves but the next step is to find enough money to pay an engineering company to mass produce the Searaser.”
Yesterday the Government White Paper for climate change outlined plans to reach emissions and renewable energy targets and, according to its inventor and developers, Searaser could be a vital part of the shift from fossil fuels to cleaner methods of producing energy.
Each Searaser produces one megawatt of electricity, meaning that 22,000 devices could generate all of the UK’s energy needs. Smith believes the Searaser could be installed along the UK’s coasts by as early as 2010.
He stated: “It is perfectly feasible that we could employ 22,000 Searaser devices. They are only one-metre wide above sea level and they take up much less space than other tidal technologies.”
SG, Inverness around 1 year, 1 month ago