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Obama Reduces Budget for Tidal, Wave Energy Research The White House has proposed cuts in wave and tidal energy research at the same time that it is seeking substantial increases in funding for research into solar and wind power.
The Obama administration requested an 82 percent increase in funding for solar power research, but sought to cut wave and tidal research by 25 percent—from $40 to $30 million.
Increases sought for wind and geothermal energy were 36 and 14 percent, respectively.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told the McClatchy Tribune that none of the $16.8 billion in the recent stimulus bill was earmarked for wave or tidal power.
A spokesman for the Energy Department said that the current administration was asking for nearly 10 times more money to support wave and tidal power than did the previous one, despite cuts to what was initially appropriated for the current year.
Utility officials in the Northwest, a region that stands to benefit from successful tidal energy endeavors, have denounced the proposed cuts as shortsighted.
In Snohomish County, Washington, the Public Utility District is hoping to put three test tidal generators—enough to power about 700 homes—in Puget Sound by 2011. If successful, the project would be expanded to power 10,000 homes.
Also in Puget Sound, the Navy will install a pilot tidal generating project next year. Washington state law requires that larger utilities obtain at least 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Successful tidal energy projects could be more reliable than wind farms and would also be located closer to the Northwest’s population centers. |
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