Britain has an abundance of renewable resources – but we need to act to harness them

By Kieran Roberts

This windswept, wave-battered country of ours has enormous capabilities in producing renewable energy. It’s a market that’s growing roughly 30% a year and a painless way of going fossil fuel cold turkey – and it will be essential if we’re to meet emissions targets and prevent climate change.

We’ve seen wind turbines sprouting nationwide since 1997, but wave and tidal power are in fact dangerously lagging behind. The main opposition to wind power as it has increased in use has been based on conservation, the danger to wildlife and that turbines are apparently eye-sores. But wave and tidal power mechanisms are out of sight and out of sound and in most cases can actually benefit the surrounding environment. Incorporated in to the design are fish passes that benefit fish migration, rather than causing the hindrance they were initially thought to.

The capability of the UK to harness this technology on a mass scale is certain. A recent report by the Environment Agency identified almost 26,000 locations where turbines could be installed. Some areas paticularly provide a strong argument for the expansion of wave and tidal power.

The Orkney Islands are an unlikely international hub but with some of the fastest wave speeds on the planet, this area has a potential that is being tragically untapped. The technology is comparatively in its early days but it’s clearly a workable success, practically and economically. The major prevention at the moment is transferring the electricity created to the grid which is all the more a case for investing in tidal and wave power. According to government figures, wave and tidal power could meet 12.5% of our electricity needs by 2025. Could, but only with the necessary investment.

More assuring than this is that wind, wave and tidal power combined could provide more than twice the amount of electricity than the proposed nuclear reactors, which are not appropriate. But that’s for another blogpost.

With the realisation of the dangers of fossil fuels and the consequent need for renewables, the UK has found itself to be suddenly abundant in energy sources. We need to seize this opportunity. Through renewable technologies, we can create thousands of green jobs, strengthen our economy and ensure its recovery; place the UK at the forefront of a surging international market; bring about energy independence by harnassing our native energy supplies and in turn increasing our security; meet and surpass our emissions targets and have a substantial impact on preventing climate change.

It’s a win win win situation.