Abstract
Entec UK Ltd. were commissioned as independent consultants by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) to produce this report, which explores the varied issues surrounding the generation of tidal power in the UK from the perspective of sustainable development. This report has been produced for the purpose of providing the SDC with a high-level overview of the main technological, environmental, economic and social issues relating to the UK’s tidal energy potential. The SDC will use the information in this report (and reports from other consultants working on their tidal power project) as an evidence base for the preparation of a report (provisionally entitled ‘Tidal Power in the UK’) which will provide the basis for the SDC position on tidal power, and will inform its advocacy and advice to the UK Government, the Devolved Administrations and the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) on this issue. The report is an overview of tidal energy in the UK, introducing key concepts and issues to the reader, and referring them to referenced information sources for more detailed analysis.
The technological, environmental, economic and social issues surrounding the generation of tidal power are multiple and interlinked. An attempt has been made in this report to unravel the complexities of the subject by presenting information in four clear sections which set out the key points and ideas in a coherent fashion. Following a general introduction to the concept of tidal power, which explores the different technologies available and their methods of action, wider issues surrounding the technologies, the environmental effects and the social and economic issues are set out in separate sections. The key points from each of these sections are summarised below. Sections use available information to differentiate between different tidal energy technologies, and to present the benefits and disbenefits of each technology type. The issues raised in each section are intended to relate to a generic technology type rather than to a specific device or proposed scheme. However, in some cases it has not been possible to avoid reliance on information from certain technologies or specific schemes as a result of a lack of general information.