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UNDERWATER ANSWER TO ECO-FUTURE

By Richard Wright - Friday, May 16, 2008
UNDERWATER ANSWER TO ECO-FUTURE
St Catherine’s Point, where the sea is alive with tidal energy, and is seen as an important test bed for a new generation of generators. Picture by JENNIFER BURTON.
WIGHT LIVING
THE answer to the Island’s messy carbon footprint may not be blowing in the wind — but it is set to make real waves.
Yesterday (Thursday) what is described as a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the IW Council and the University of Southampton on a whole range of eco-issues.
Behind that dusty description of a document lies a Green, glittering prize — that of clean, renewable, energy generation and much more besides.
A major part of what they want to achieve will be the whirling of giant tidal turbine blades beneath the waves of the Channel off St Catherine’s Point.
Unlike the plan for the Wellow Wind Farm, where the plug was pulled after the council turned down the 100 metre turbines because of the effect on the area of outstanding natural beauty, tidal turbines operate largely out of sight.
The sea off St Catherine’s is alive with tidal energy and is seen as an important test bed for a new generation of generators. Early tidal studies have been encouraging.
Experts calculate the first marketable turbines are about five years away but arrays of test equipment off the Island’s southern tip could play a valuable part in their development and lead to a permanent tidal energy farm there.
Unlike their terrestrial cousins that can, and do, mash unwary birds, sea arrays spin more slowly and fish are much less likely to have their chips, apparently.
Tidal energy advocates say that much like icebergs, where most goes on below the surface, sea turbines only show the tower tops and although these are high visibility so boats don’t bump into them, they would not intrude on the look of the Island’s most beautiful coast.
Prof A. S. Bahaj of the university’s School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, is the man heading marine energy research.
He’s excited by it and believes there is enough energy out there in the sea to power the whole Island with some left over.
“It is quite possible we could see marine current turbines generating electricity for the IW from 2012 onwards,” says Prof Bahaj, who hopes the university will be able to dip into the expanding government renewable energy research grants’ pot.
But the memo between council and Southampton academia goes deeper than the sea. It links the two to investigate transport, waste management and coastal engineering too, plus quality of life and social issues.
The university’s School of Civil Engineering and the Environment has a world-renowned team and the idea of the joint working relationship aims to draw in, not just grant funding but entrepreneurs too, to support the Eco Island ethos.
Bike-riding, small-car-driving council leader Cllr David Pugh signed the memo for the council with the university’s vice-chancellor Prof Bill Wakeham.
“Southampton is a world-class university, which has a deserved reputation for excellence in developing renewable energy technologies, transport and waste management,” said Cllr Pugh, who reckons the agreement is the cement that will bind the two together to make the Island carbon neutral by 2020.
Prof Wakeham said: “We hope to be able to help the Island make great strides towards sustainability, particularly in the areas of transport, housing, water, waste and energy; and in doing so to develop new science, technology and social understanding that can be adopted elsewhere in the UK and worldwide.”
And council chief executive Joe Duckworth is especially enthused, just a couple of weeks before he leaves our shores for Newham, retaining a second home here.
He believes the support of the university helped the Island win the PFI bid for our roads and that a link can only be good for our education system too, not just in terms of help for our ailing system but getting our kids fired-up about going to a local uni to study stuff that makes our lives better.
He pointed to the university being the third best educational establishment in the world when it came to applying research to business applications.
In terms of Eco-Island, that means carbon-neutral houses and a thermo-dynamic model to show us all just how we use resources and how we can all affect the future.
Excitingly too, there is the desire for a Green science park for a cluster of small and medium- sized businesses, working at the cutting edge of renewables.
“We have the land and we are actively working both with the university and the South East England Development Agency to make it happen,” he said.
Big visions indeed and ambitious targets for our little Island.
As a victim of our geography, our footprint is a good deal heavier than the mainland and the Eco-Island agenda needs to work very well indeed for reality to take the place of ideals.
The rocketing cost of oil makes that footprint ever heftier but as energy costs continue to rise, the Island contributing Green juice to the National Grid becomes ever more attractive — if it can be squeezed out of the memo.