Tide turns for ocean energy

AN AUSTRALIAN company, using technology that a young Queensland engineer designed, is expected this week to announce a string of international contracts.

Atlantis Resources Corporation has developed turbines that can generate electricity from the sea’s movement. It has begun trials at San Remo in Victoria.

Mr Cornelius said the area that the company hoped to develop in Scotland – the Pentland Firth in the country’s north – had been described as the Saudi Arabia of marine power.

But Scottish engineer Tony Trapp told The Scotsman newspaper that tidal power was not reliable enough to generate the power levels that Atlantis suggested.

“The trouble is, it isn’t the solution. Tidal and wave [power] are trivial in the world energy picture,” Dr Trapp said. “The overall conclusion is it’s silly – it’s not a sensible use of intellect or financial resources.”

Sydney Morning Herald