A great couple of articles in this week's Economist - under the Technology Quarterly section. The two pieces are;

i) A new twist for offshore wind - on the progress being made in deploying wind offshore to deeper water locations and the points of interest were;

• there are still only 300-400 offshore wind turbines deployed in the entire world, so this is still relatively  unproven, experimental technology
• floating wind turbines are evolving that can be moored to the bottom up to 150 metres deep at the same cost as the conventional limit of 40 metres. Theoretically, that opens up vast tracts of seabed real estate for offshore wind business - according to average depth figures here - the entire North Sea (average depth 94m), Hudson Bay (101m), Baltic Sea (55m), the Irish Sea (60m) and the English Channel (54m).
  
• Italy's naval-certification agency demands that a floating wind turbine must be strong enough to withstand a "100-year wave" of 9.7m high. That's what I call a tall order.
  

Sometimes I wonder why if the argument in favour of offshore wind is higher wind speeds and bigger turbines,  the entire offshore wind industry doesn't just go vertical axis - whose higher cut-in speeds will be offset by self-stabilising turbines with longer lifetimes, no military radar interference, lower avian mortaility rates, higher cut-off speeds and able to capture wind energy from any direction.  A case in point is the  Aerogenerator, which can be situated at up to 150m depth and crucially, has an impressive design life of 35-40 years. See details here and here and ask for a brochure here. Offshore wind needs something game-changing like this if it is to deliver on the industry hype. But as far as I can see, apart from them, no one is doing it. Sadly, almost all of the innovation seems to have gone out of the wind industry over the last few years. No wonder people like Professor Dieter Helm are calling it "mature".

ii) The coming wave - a survey of what's happening in wave energy technology. This is even more experimental but progress is being made. And naturally, I  was alerted to the words "... several wave-energy companies are thought to  be planning stockmarket  flotations in the coming months".

When all is aaid and done though, I'm struck by how the potential of the oceans - the greater kinetic energy in  wind, currents and waves - is for the time being cancelled out by the enormous cost of engineering machinery that can withstand the forces of a hostile, tough and unforgiving environment. Sing along now, For those in peril on the sea . . . !

One day, with stronger, cheaper materials, these barriers will be overcome - but don't hold your breath, just yet.