Net-Zero Hour – July. Tidal Range Energy Development in an Estuarine Basin: Opportunities and Challenges

Event Overview

Title
Tidal Range Energy Development in an Estuarine Basin: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract
The presentation will review the background to the need for renewable energy, by outlining the benefits of indigenous, predictable and reliable energy from tidal resources. The impacts associated with the drivers of climate change, population growth, increasing urbanisation and the sustainable development goals will be discussed, along with the increasing need for more electricity in the future as we move to electrification of transport, heating etc. The UK tidal energy resource is significant and will be discussed, along with comparisons between tidal stream and tidal range resources, highlighting the considerable opportunities of acquiring tidal range energy from the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel; an estuarine basin with the second highest tidal range world-wide. The hydrodynamic characteristics of the Severn Estuary make this a unique estuarine basin for generating tidal energy, with high tidal ranges and currents, but challenging in view of the desire to protect the high levels of turbidity (with limited sunlight penetration), and the limited, but unique, aquatic life and bird populations. A number of tidal range energy schemes have been studied and designed for over the past 20 years and an overview will be given of these studies, including in particular the recent design and operation of the proposed West Somerset Lagoon.

Presenter

Emeritus Professor Roger Falconer

Roger Falconer is Emeritus Professor of Water and Environmental Engineering at Cardiff University, and an Independent Water Engineering Consultant. He graduated from Imperial College with a PhD in 1976, followed by posts at the universities of Birmingham (Lecturer 1977-86), Bradford (Professor and Head of Department 1987-97), and Cardiff (Professor 1997-18). He has managed a wide range of research projects on hydro-environmental modelling and has been involved in over 100 EIA studies worldwide. He has published extensively in the field and advises UK and overseas governments, consultants, and water companies, on water and environmental engineering projects, including tidal range energy. He regularly gives general lectures and media and TV interviews on topics relating to water and energy security, including tidal energy. He is a Fellow of the: Royal Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Engineering (For. Mem.) and European Academy of Sciences. He was President of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (2011-15).

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