" A prototype tidal turbine has become the first device of its kind to deliver 100MWh of power into the Scottish grid."

1.Harnessing tidal streams, the 500kW tidal turbine prototype was designed and built by Rolls-Royce subsidiary Tidal Generation Limited.

Robert Stevenson, Rolls-Royce, vice-president — Power Ventures said: ‘Reaching the 100MWh milestone highlights the significant potential of cleaner, greener tidal power as part of a diversified UK energy mix. Having proven the capability of tidal energy, Rolls-Royce is well placed to meet any future demand with larger, more efficient technology on a commercial scale.’

Installed as part of the Deep-Gen III project, co-funded by the UK government-backed Technology Strategy Board, the Rolls-Royce prototype tidal turbine is currently deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC’s) offshore test site off the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is the first EMEC-located project to receive Renewable Obligation Certificates and to reach 100MWh of supply to the grid.

The tidal unit’s three-bladed turbine is attached by a tripod to the seabed and can operate, fully submerged at water depth of 40m. It is reported that its design allows the turbine to continually rotate to face the incoming tide at an optimal angle. In addition, the turbine unit is semi-buoyant and can be towed to and from the point of operation, minimising installation and maintenance costs by avoiding the need for specialist vessels.

Neil Morgan, head of energy at the Technology Strategy Board, said: ’This is a significant milestone for the UK marine renewables industry. The UK is well placed to exploit tidal stream energy resources and, if commercialised on a large scale, this technology could be an important part of the renewable energy mix we’ll need in the future, and could create jobs and exports for the UK.’

As part of the Energy Technologies Institute-funded ReDAPT (Reliable Data Acquisition Platform for Tidal) consortium project, Rolls-Royce is currently building a 1MW tidal turbine demonstration unit that will be deployed in mid-2012 at EMEC in Orkney.

Dr David Clarke, ETI chief executive, said: ’The UK is already a world leader in this exciting renewable sector. However, the long-term viability of tidal technology depends on it becoming competitive with other renewable energy sources. Continued investment and new partners are urgently needed to maintain momentum and bring the technology to scale.’
2.This provides a more accurate way of judging the ripeness of fruits such as strawberries than assessing their colour. It could also lead to faster picking methods, because it can see through leaves and other visible obstructions.

Microwaves in particular are used because they are safe in low doses and pass through many substances but are stopped by water.

‘With the microwave approach you’re looking a little bit below the surface, so potentially the strawberries could be red but they might still be hard and not very full of water,’ said Dudley.

‘We can see where the strawberries are and see through the leaves. Certainly in strawberries, the leaves don’t have a particularly heavy water content so are fairly transparent and underneath the strawberries stand out very nicely.’

The system could even be used to detect disease or determine whether the crops need different amounts of fertiliser or water by continually monitoring them to see how their water content changes.

‘You can start thinking about how you can manage your crop in a more efficient way, certainly in an enclosed area such as a greenhouse, where strawberries would be,’ said Dudley.

‘But we’re also considering it for on tractors and in farm fields. That’s perfectly feasible if you can mount this technology in the right way.’

NPL has spent about two years developing the imaging system with farmers and a farming equipment company, and has built several prototypes based on technology used for material analysis that have been tested in the fields on cauliflowers and lettuce.

The biggest challenge was designing the microwave detectors to produce a high-enough resolution at a fast-enough speed to be useful.

The next step will be partnering with companies from the sensor and agricultural industries to develop the technology at a low-enough cost to mount on farming equipment, while limiting false positive readings.