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Wave Hub – a new approach to tackling climate change in Cornwall....Why they are doing things to help the climate.... The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) aims to promote sustainable economic growth in the south west. They recognise that climate change will have a big impact in Cornwall and the region as a whole and they want to ensure that business is able to adapt to the changes that are likely to occur. They think the question of climate change is occurring is beyond debate and that changes to our existing climate will certainly occur. These changes will result in risks to existing businesses in terms of adapting to the climate and in terms of legislation that may be introduced to help fight it. They also know that new opportunities for business will arise as a result of climate change. As well as adapting to the changes, businesses in Cornwall and the region will have a role to play in helping to tackle climate change. The SWRDA want to ensure that they help this sector to do this in a sustainable way, whilst improving the economy in the south west as a whole.What they are doing.... One of the major projects that SWRDA is helping develop in Cornwall is Wave Hub. This is In simple terms Wave Hub is like an underwater electrical socket that will be connected to the national grid via an underwater cable. Developers of wave conversion machines will be able to connect their devices directly into the wave hub and send the electricity they produced back to the mainland. It will provide a unique opportunity to test and monitor different wave energy devices over a number of years, enabling this technology to become more commercially viable. SWRDA have already secured the necessary funding to build Wave Hub and have selected four manufacturers to test devices so far. They are hoping to gain the necessary consents from Government in 2007 and if received could commission Wave Hub as early as 2008. Beyond Wave Hub, SWRDA have directly invested over £6 million in renewable energy projects across the South West to date and a further £3 million in promoting business resource efficiency and sustainable construction, including the use of renewable energy technologies. They see the south west as being at the forefront of renewable energy technology development in the UK. Why it’s important….. We all need electricity in our everyday lives in our homes and businesses, but a lot of this is currently produced in power stations that burn fossil fuels. Whenever these are burnt they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and this gas is driving changes in our climate. By contrast, electricity from renewable energy resources such as the waves, wind, sun or plants, use natural energy flows in the environment that does not add to climate change. Wave Hub will provide a new source of renewable energy that will help to tackle climate change. It is estimated that it will generate enough electricity for 7,500 homes, saving over 24,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. It will be the UK’s first offshore facility for generating energy from the waves and put Cornwall at the forefront of the emerging wave industry. This will help to create new jobs and boost the local economy. We are already starting to make more use of wind, solar and biomass in the UK, but little has been done to make use of the energy in the waves that surround our coast. Wave Hub will play an important role in starting to assess how we can make use of this renewable resource. By testing new wave devices over several years, developers will be able to secure funding and expertise to develop new wave energy devices that could play an increasingly important role in helping us to tackle climate change in the future. The project will also place the South west at the forefront of a new technology and result in new job opportunities in Cornwall and the region. Further information.... To find out more about climate change and its possible impacts in Cornwall, visit our Understanding Climate Change pages. Wave Hub Regen South West Renewable Energy Generating more heat and electricity from renewable energy sources is central to the fight against climate change. This includes using the natural energy in the environment such as the sun, wind, wave, water or plants. It is possible to generate energy at a small scale in your own home or on a much larger scale. You can find out about different sources of renewable energy from the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership website.
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designed to take advantage of the natural wave resources for producing renewable energy. The energy in the waves off the coast of Cornwall are particularly well suited for using wave energy conversion machines to generate electricity and they are therefore planning to build wave hub about 10 miles off the coast of Hayle.
