More on the possibility of using the tides to generate energy.
S.F. joins global effort in testing tidal power as a source of energy
By Herbert A. Sample - Bee San Francisco BureauPublished 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 19, 2006
If anyone needs another means to experience the energy of the Golden Gate, the narrow channel flowing between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, they someday may find it from their nearest electrical outlet.
That is the hope of San Francisco officials, who are now studying ways to harness the tremendous power of daily tidal shifts deep in the Golden Gate's waters.
In September, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the city would commit $145,000 to a feasibility study on generating electricity from the channel's tidal and wave energy.
If all goes as planned, the first test of such a system could take place in 2009. That may seem ambitious, given that capturing the power of tides has yet to be attempted in similar waters.
But there is increasing interest in developing cost-effective technology to do just that as oil prices move higher and the dangers of global warming become more widely known.
Scientist and engineers in San Francisco and elsewhere are pondering innovations that could provide electricity from underwater turbines akin to the windmills of Altamont Pass.
"We want to do everything, no pun intended, in our power to make sure that the city is using as much renewable power as possible," said Susan Leal, general manager of San Francisco's Public Utility Commission.
"For tidal (power), even though it looks further out into the future, it still warrants investigation."
A consortium of European governments -- including Britain, Portugal, Denmark and Norway -- have set up a lab at the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland, where wave devices to generate power are being tested.
Meanwhile, a number of companies have obtained temporary federal permits over the past two years for several locations around the United States where tidal or wave energy may be developed.
