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Wind turbines; love them or hate them
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Howburn Digger
Howburn Digger
986 posts

Re: Wind turbines; love them or hate them
Dec 11, 2013, 21:04
goffik wrote:


Wasn't there also talk of some kind of tidal generators up that way? Actually it might have been Skye. And in that case protesters said it would cause havoc with the ecosystem. And possibly disturb a seal colony. But then that could just be me getting confused. ;)



I thought this wee beastie was built in the late 1970's but I was wrong. (though I am certain that I saw the first onshore wave generator prototype for Islay on Tomorrow's World or some such programme in the late 1970's or early 1980's). It was certainly mooted throughout the 1980's and a working prototype installed in 1991.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islay_LIMPET

It was (and remains!) the world's first commercial wave-powered generator. Cheap to make. Low/ no maintenance. The original designers suggested that they could also be built into harbour walls or breakwaters everywhere. Brilliant idea... endless free energy from waves breaking on the shores. There just wasn't the political will to take such revolutionary ideas anywhere back in the 1980's. The Nuclear Lobby, British Gas and British Coal had a lot of clout.
This is onshore wave powered generation, a different water horse altogether from offshore wave generation.
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Re: Wind turbines; love them or hate them (goffik)
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