Like to the Pontic Sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er knows retiring ebbs, but keeps due on
(Shakespeare, Othello, III, iii)
Poets have long marveled at the enormous power of the ocean. In the past few decades, scientists have been figuring out ways to convert that power into electricity. I remember a Q&A session eight years ago with a board member of ExxonMobil, talking excitedly about the potential of tidal power. “Imagine,” he told the audience, “a small bay or inlet in Maine with a narrow opening. Now imagine, somehow, putting a hydroelectric gate at the mouth of the bay to harness the immense power necessary to move millions of gallons of water in and out between high and low tide.” It’s a great concept, though, somewhere along the way, the folks at ExxonMobil decided it wasn’t. Thankfully, many of the other big players, like British Petroleum (BP) , have seen the (green) light, investing significant resources into alternative energy technologies and research. BP now claims its initials stand for ‘Beyond Petroleum.’ Meanwhile, other, much smaller companies are working to make tidal and wave power viable energy alternatives. Pelamis Wave Power, a Scottish wave-energy tech firm, and Australia-based Biopower Systems are two such examples.
