Gold traders are now considering the export market after experiencing sharp drops in domestic sales. Some of them see many barriers to taking the export route while others see it as an opportunity.
Domestic sales of gold accessories in Thailand has dropped by about 50% over the past 10 months due to high gold prices. Since the breakout of the US-led war against Iraq in February, international gold prices have increased by more than 60%.
According to Jitti Tangsithpakdi, the chairman of the Gold Traders' Association, Thai traders are not yet ready for the export business.
``They are not used to it,'' he said.
Since local traders had long enjoyed satisfactory sales from the domestic market, they never really thought of exporting, explained Mr Jitti, also president of Chin Hua Heng Goldsmith Co which has been exporting gold accessories for about two decades.
Gold accessories from Thailand are recognised internationally, but the lack of development over the past several years has put the country's gold industry at a disadvantage in the international gold market, Mr Jitti said.
Neighbouring countries that export gold, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India and China, have already entered major gold markets, while Thai traders have just a tiny share, he added.
Thailand's gold industry is about five years behind its international competitors and of its total export volume, estimated to be two billion baht a year, a large portion is gold bars, not gold accessories, said the association's deputy secretary-general, Dr Kritcharat Hirunyasiri, also the managing director of Mae Thongsuk Gold Smith Co.
Other countries began using machines in their production process years ago. In Thailand, 99% of gold accessories are still handmade, putting the industry at a disadvantaged position in terms of productivity.
``When one of our goldsmiths finishes his third necklace of the day, one of their machines has already produced 100 necklaces,'' Dr Kritcharat said.
Another problem with handmade products is that the quality of all the pieces produced are not the same, while products made by machines are exactly alike, he said.
International customers expect gold accessories of the same design to have the same quality, both in terms of gold weight and pattern. The majority of Thai gold traders can not yet fulfill this need, Dr Kritcharat said.
To compete internationally, gold traders would have to improve the consistency of their product quality. Patterns of the accessories must be adjusted, so that they are more appealing to international customers, he said.
Traders, additionally, should use more machines in the production process, blending it with local goldsmiths' outstanding handicraft skills, he said.
Nevertheless, Prida Tiasuwan, chairman of Pranda Jewelry Plc, argued that handmade production is an asset _ not an obstacle.
Pranda Jewelry is exporting 99.9% gold accessories, under the brand Prima Gold, and jewellery to many countries, particularly in the Middle East. Its flagship Prima Gold accessories are mostly handmade.
``Many consumers are bored with machine-made jewellery. They are searching for something different. Our goldsmiths' outstanding skills have been passed on from generation to generation, and we should capitalise on it,'' Mr Prida said.
Besides the improvement in quality and design, Mr Jitti said the Thai gold industry is also in need of more hallmarking schemes, something to ensure international purchasers that gold products from Thailand meet international standards and their expectations.
He hailed the Consumer Protection Board for issuing a recent regulation stating that in all so-called ``pure gold'' accessories, at least 96.5% of the content must be pure gold.
Still more hallmarking schemes are needed to ensure the quality of gold products from Thailand, Mr Jitti said.
Creativity
Minggu, 30 Maret 2008
Internet Marketing
Here's a Web People Won't Mind Getting Stuck In... Versus Spiders Whose Only Business is Sucking Blood... True Story:
I hate INDOOR spiders.
Always have...
They feed off of us at night when we sleep. I'm not paranoid - this is totally true whether you like thinking about it or not.
Indoor Spiders Don't Have to Spin 'Attractive Webs' to Eat...
Have you seen an indoor spider's web? There's not much to see.
Ever wonder why?
Because indoor spiders don't have to create anything to eat...
That's why they do their business in the shadows... unsocial and unseen.
Indoor spiders don't contribute anything to attract food to them... they just hang out like uninvited guests and when the lights go out... you got it... they suck blood like leaches.
Those lazy suckers haven't had to spin real webs for generations! They don't use innovation... they just take what they can from who they can.
They pay the price for conducting business the way they do. People will go out of their way to kill an indoor spider, while you usually leave an outdoor spider alone.
Deep down you respect the outdoor spider who is often seen out in the open conducting business proudly displaying his work.
I love OUTDOOR spiders. Always have.
I can't say they're all beautiful, but some of them ARE magnificent. Have you ever seen a giant healthy spider in the woods, perched peacefully on it's work of art--appearing to be earning it's living effortlessly when you KNOW he must have worked his butt off to create such a masterpiece?
Some of those webs catch your eye even if you're at quite a distance. Some are real miracles... especially with the morning dew catching the light. Have you seen it? It's amazing.
So what do these indoor and outdoor spiders have to do with acing the Internet Marketing scene and being liked by both your customers, prospects as well as those who pass by along the way?
It's the difference between giving before you get, like the spider who spins a beautiful web, or hanging out uninvited, giving nothing and sucking all you can from whomever you can, like the indoor spider.
Most Internet marketers use the Internet like an indoor spider uses someone's home. They hang out uninvited... not contributing anything, and doing everything they can to avoid working for their reward.
Indoor spiders don't know any better. Most Internet marketers do. They know they're suppose contribute to but they either don't know how, or they feel they don't need to.
I've been there so I can relate. A person can be so focused on what they want to get out of their business that they forget that life, nature, the Universe and Biblical teachings... all the great teachers from the beginning to present have all taught in one way or another...
That you must give before you can get. And giving without want is the key to mastering everything. In relationships, in business, and fulfillment.
Back to Applying this to Your Internet Marketing to Spin an 'Attractive Web' of Your Own...
People don't always love outdoor spiders, but most have an appreciation for a beautiful web when they see one.
So even if someone is not interested in what you're offering in business, they will appreciate what you're doing if you do it with consideration for others.
And those who are your 'target market' will follow you and buy from you over and over if you're willing to work to contribute something that is attractive for them. This is the secret to gobbling up more business than you ever need while being liked... or even loved for it.
So what can you offer? What can you contribute?
The list of what you can offer is as infinite as the stars in the galaxy... and that is no exaggeration.
I like to teach that people simply start from where they're at in their profession. What do you like or enjoy about your business?
What fascinates you the most? Focus on those topics. Research them. Join groups that discuss them. Network with people on the web who share news or posts about those same topics. Genuinely contribute and learn from others.
As you network and begin to learn new things, share your opinion on what you've learned, on people who are well known in your area of expertise. Build up content on the Internet that reflects your reviews on books, other sites, people and their ideas.
Create content at Social Marketing locations (see some places to start below), but ALWAYS do it in a way so that those folk passing by receive value and enjoy what you shared even if they are not interested in what you offer in your business.
This is the web of content you build that will expand further and further with your reach. And it will be good stuff. Attractive stuff. People will like it. They will like you because of it. This is why many of them who are interested in the kinds of things you sell or offer will buy from you. Because you gave something they enjoyed receiving and because it was then their decision to buy from you. People like to buy. They just don't like to be sold to... so make your web far reaching and attractive.
Start Spinning Your Web of 'Attractive Content'...
Where to start spinning your web?
Here are some tips...
* Internet Marketing on Squidoo.com
* Internet Marketing on Hubpages.com
* Marketing with YouTube and other video sharing locations
* Face Book Marketing Pages (not just the profile)
* My Space
* Set up a Blog for Your Internet Attraction Marketing
* Link your good content with Social Bookmarking
Network in a few social networking sites daily and contribute, comment, help with questions, give good feedback
This all comes back to you on the Internet just as it would if you were networking in the real world... only this is far more effective because you leverage time to build significantly more relationships and you can build a web that reaches much farther than was ever possible before recently on the net.
Are You in a Network Marketing business?
Then this is even more important for you. Stop chasing people. Stop spamming people. Cold calling is spam on the phone. Stop looking at every person you meet as an opportunity to help them---because it's only coming off as you wanting to help yourself. Because normal people don't behave that way and inside you know it.
Are you in a small business of any kind?
On a shoe-string budget you can build this web of content to attract people to any kind of business. It's powerful. Just begin.
Then Bookmark your stuff, but only your best stuff (and not only your stuff) at places like Digg and StumbleUpon
These actions will build your marketing foundations and your reach will grow as you follow what I shared in this article... your networks will grow and more people will continually be attracted to your content. And they will start to buy from you. Some will even seek out what you are selling just so they can.
Of course, there is a learning curve involved. We've carved out a nice niche of service by helping small business owners and network marketers on a shoe-string budget learn this stuff.
But there are a lot of great teachers out there. As you move forward in your business, remember the difference between the Indoor and the Outdoor spider.
"Will you conduct your business in the shadows?"
Or, will you first contribute by spinning an Internet marketing web that is truly attractive... while being loved by prospects, customers and even those who just pass by?
About the Author...
Mike Klingler is a Marketing Coach for small business owners and network marketers seeking visual click-by-click help setting up their own marketing presence. Register here for Mike's unique Internet Marketing Training.
I hate INDOOR spiders.
Always have...
They feed off of us at night when we sleep. I'm not paranoid - this is totally true whether you like thinking about it or not.
Indoor Spiders Don't Have to Spin 'Attractive Webs' to Eat...
Have you seen an indoor spider's web? There's not much to see.
Ever wonder why?
Because indoor spiders don't have to create anything to eat...
That's why they do their business in the shadows... unsocial and unseen.
Indoor spiders don't contribute anything to attract food to them... they just hang out like uninvited guests and when the lights go out... you got it... they suck blood like leaches.
Those lazy suckers haven't had to spin real webs for generations! They don't use innovation... they just take what they can from who they can.
They pay the price for conducting business the way they do. People will go out of their way to kill an indoor spider, while you usually leave an outdoor spider alone.
Deep down you respect the outdoor spider who is often seen out in the open conducting business proudly displaying his work.
I love OUTDOOR spiders. Always have.
I can't say they're all beautiful, but some of them ARE magnificent. Have you ever seen a giant healthy spider in the woods, perched peacefully on it's work of art--appearing to be earning it's living effortlessly when you KNOW he must have worked his butt off to create such a masterpiece?
Some of those webs catch your eye even if you're at quite a distance. Some are real miracles... especially with the morning dew catching the light. Have you seen it? It's amazing.
So what do these indoor and outdoor spiders have to do with acing the Internet Marketing scene and being liked by both your customers, prospects as well as those who pass by along the way?
It's the difference between giving before you get, like the spider who spins a beautiful web, or hanging out uninvited, giving nothing and sucking all you can from whomever you can, like the indoor spider.
Most Internet marketers use the Internet like an indoor spider uses someone's home. They hang out uninvited... not contributing anything, and doing everything they can to avoid working for their reward.
Indoor spiders don't know any better. Most Internet marketers do. They know they're suppose contribute to but they either don't know how, or they feel they don't need to.
I've been there so I can relate. A person can be so focused on what they want to get out of their business that they forget that life, nature, the Universe and Biblical teachings... all the great teachers from the beginning to present have all taught in one way or another...
That you must give before you can get. And giving without want is the key to mastering everything. In relationships, in business, and fulfillment.
Back to Applying this to Your Internet Marketing to Spin an 'Attractive Web' of Your Own...
People don't always love outdoor spiders, but most have an appreciation for a beautiful web when they see one.
So even if someone is not interested in what you're offering in business, they will appreciate what you're doing if you do it with consideration for others.
And those who are your 'target market' will follow you and buy from you over and over if you're willing to work to contribute something that is attractive for them. This is the secret to gobbling up more business than you ever need while being liked... or even loved for it.
So what can you offer? What can you contribute?
The list of what you can offer is as infinite as the stars in the galaxy... and that is no exaggeration.
I like to teach that people simply start from where they're at in their profession. What do you like or enjoy about your business?
What fascinates you the most? Focus on those topics. Research them. Join groups that discuss them. Network with people on the web who share news or posts about those same topics. Genuinely contribute and learn from others.
As you network and begin to learn new things, share your opinion on what you've learned, on people who are well known in your area of expertise. Build up content on the Internet that reflects your reviews on books, other sites, people and their ideas.
Create content at Social Marketing locations (see some places to start below), but ALWAYS do it in a way so that those folk passing by receive value and enjoy what you shared even if they are not interested in what you offer in your business.
This is the web of content you build that will expand further and further with your reach. And it will be good stuff. Attractive stuff. People will like it. They will like you because of it. This is why many of them who are interested in the kinds of things you sell or offer will buy from you. Because you gave something they enjoyed receiving and because it was then their decision to buy from you. People like to buy. They just don't like to be sold to... so make your web far reaching and attractive.
Start Spinning Your Web of 'Attractive Content'...
Where to start spinning your web?
Here are some tips...
* Internet Marketing on Squidoo.com
* Internet Marketing on Hubpages.com
* Marketing with YouTube and other video sharing locations
* Face Book Marketing Pages (not just the profile)
* My Space
* Set up a Blog for Your Internet Attraction Marketing
* Link your good content with Social Bookmarking
Network in a few social networking sites daily and contribute, comment, help with questions, give good feedback
This all comes back to you on the Internet just as it would if you were networking in the real world... only this is far more effective because you leverage time to build significantly more relationships and you can build a web that reaches much farther than was ever possible before recently on the net.
Are You in a Network Marketing business?
Then this is even more important for you. Stop chasing people. Stop spamming people. Cold calling is spam on the phone. Stop looking at every person you meet as an opportunity to help them---because it's only coming off as you wanting to help yourself. Because normal people don't behave that way and inside you know it.
Are you in a small business of any kind?
On a shoe-string budget you can build this web of content to attract people to any kind of business. It's powerful. Just begin.
Then Bookmark your stuff, but only your best stuff (and not only your stuff) at places like Digg and StumbleUpon
These actions will build your marketing foundations and your reach will grow as you follow what I shared in this article... your networks will grow and more people will continually be attracted to your content. And they will start to buy from you. Some will even seek out what you are selling just so they can.
Of course, there is a learning curve involved. We've carved out a nice niche of service by helping small business owners and network marketers on a shoe-string budget learn this stuff.
But there are a lot of great teachers out there. As you move forward in your business, remember the difference between the Indoor and the Outdoor spider.
"Will you conduct your business in the shadows?"
Or, will you first contribute by spinning an Internet marketing web that is truly attractive... while being loved by prospects, customers and even those who just pass by?
About the Author...
Mike Klingler is a Marketing Coach for small business owners and network marketers seeking visual click-by-click help setting up their own marketing presence. Register here for Mike's unique Internet Marketing Training.
energi
HYDROPOWER GENERATES ELECTRICITY
Of the renewable energy sources that generate electricity, hydropower is the most often used. It accounted for 7 percent of total U.S. electricity generation and 73 percent of generation from renewables in 2005.
It is one of the oldest sources of energy and was used thousands of years ago to turn a paddle wheel for purposes such as grinding grain. Our nation’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882. Until that time, coal was the only fuel used to produce electricity. Because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used.
HOW HYDROPOWER WORKS
Image of the water cycle. Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate. This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation. The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Understanding the water cycle is important to understanding hydropower. In the water cycle -
# Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate.
# This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation.
# The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Mechanical energy is derived by directing, harnessing, or channeling moving water. The amount of available energy in moving water is determined by its flow or fall.Swiftly flowing water in a big river, like the Columbia River Image of how a hydropower plant works.
Of the renewable energy sources that generate electricity, hydropower is the most often used. It accounted for 7 percent of total U.S. electricity generation and 73 percent of generation from renewables in 2005.
It is one of the oldest sources of energy and was used thousands of years ago to turn a paddle wheel for purposes such as grinding grain. Our nation’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882. Until that time, coal was the only fuel used to produce electricity. Because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used.
HOW HYDROPOWER WORKS
Image of the water cycle. Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate. This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation. The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Understanding the water cycle is important to understanding hydropower. In the water cycle -
# Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate.
# This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation.
# The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Mechanical energy is derived by directing, harnessing, or channeling moving water. The amount of available energy in moving water is determined by its flow or fall.Swiftly flowing water in a big river, like the Columbia River Image of how a hydropower plant works.
The water flows from behind the dam through penstocks, turns the turbines, and causes the generators to generate electricity. The electricity is carried to users by a transmission line. Other water flows from behind the dam over spillways and into the river below.along the border between Oregon and Washington, carries a great deal of energy in its flow. So, too,with water descending rapidly from a very high point, like Niagara Falls in New York. In either instance, the water flows through a pipe, or penstock,then pushes against and turns blades in a turbine to spin a generator to produce electricity. In a run-of-the-river system, the force of the current applies the needed pressure, while in a storage system, water is accumulated in reservoirs created by dams, then released when the demand for electricity is high. Meanwhile, the reservoirs or lakes are used for boating and fishing, and often the rivers beyond the dams provide opportunities for whitewater rafting and kayaking. Hoover Dam, a hydroelectric facility completed in 1936 on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, created Lake Mead, a 110-mile-long national recreational area that offers water sports and fishing in a desert setting.
WHERE HYDROPOWER IS GENERATED
Over one-half of the total U.S. hydroelectric capacity for electricity generation is concentrated in three States (Washington, California and Oregon) with approximately 27 percent in Washington, the location of the Nation’s largest hydroelectric facility – the Grand Coulee Dam.
Image of a map of the contiguous 48 states, showing the top hydropower producing states in 1998. number 1 was Washington, number 2 was California, number 3 Tennessee, number 4 Oregon and number 5 New York
It is important to note that only a small percentage of all dams in the United States produce electricity. Most dams were constructed solely to provide irrigation and flood control.
HYDROPOWER AND THE ENVIROMENT
Some people regard hydropower as the ideal fuel for electricity generation because, unlike the nonrenewable fuels used to generate electricity, it is almost free, there are no waste products, and hydropower does not pollute the water or the air. However, it is criticized because it does change the environment by affecting natural habitats. For instance, in the Columbia River, salmon must swim upstream to their spawning grounds to reproduce, but the series of dams gets in their way. Different approaches to fixing this problem have been used, including the construction of "fish la
Energi kid's Page
HYDROPOWER GENERATES ELECTRICITY
Of the renewable energy sources that generate electricity, hydropower is the most often used. It accounted for 7 percent of total U.S. electricity generation and 73 percent of generation from renewables in 2005.
It is one of the oldest sources of energy and was used thousands of years ago to turn a paddle wheel for purposes such as grinding grain. Our nation’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882. Until that time, coal was the only fuel used to produce electricity. Because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used.
HOW HYDROPOWER WORKS
Image of the water cycle. Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate. This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation. The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Understanding the water cycle is important to understanding hydropower. In the water cycle -
# Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate.
# This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation.
# The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Mechanical energy is derived by directing, harnessing, or channeling moving water. The amount of available energy in moving water is determined by its flow or fall.Swiftly flowing water in a big river, like the Columbia River Image of how a hydropower plant works.
Of the renewable energy sources that generate electricity, hydropower is the most often used. It accounted for 7 percent of total U.S. electricity generation and 73 percent of generation from renewables in 2005.
It is one of the oldest sources of energy and was used thousands of years ago to turn a paddle wheel for purposes such as grinding grain. Our nation’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882. Until that time, coal was the only fuel used to produce electricity. Because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used.
HOW HYDROPOWER WORKS
Image of the water cycle. Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate. This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation. The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Understanding the water cycle is important to understanding hydropower. In the water cycle -
# Solar energy heats water on the surface, causing it to evaporate.
# This water vapor condenses into clouds and falls back onto the surface as precipitation.
# The water flows through rivers back into the oceans, where it can evaporate and begin the cycle over again.
Mechanical energy is derived by directing, harnessing, or channeling moving water. The amount of available energy in moving water is determined by its flow or fall.Swiftly flowing water in a big river, like the Columbia River Image of how a hydropower plant works.
The water flows from behind the dam through penstocks, turns the turbines, and causes the generators to generate electricity. The electricity is carried to users by a transmission line. Other water flows from behind the dam over spillways and into the river below.along the border between Oregon and Washington, carries a great deal of energy in its flow. So, too,with water descending rapidly from a very high point, like Niagara Falls in New York. In either instance, the water flows through a pipe, or penstock,then pushes against and turns blades in a turbine to spin a generator to produce electricity. In a run-of-the-river system, the force of the current applies the needed pressure, while in a storage system, water is accumulated in reservoirs created by dams, then released when the demand for electricity is high. Meanwhile, the reservoirs or lakes are used for boating and fishing, and often the rivers beyond the dams provide opportunities for whitewater rafting and kayaking. Hoover Dam, a hydroelectric facility completed in 1936 on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada, created Lake Mead, a 110-mile-long national recreational area that offers water sports and fishing in a desert setting.
WHERE HYDROPOWER IS GENERATED
Over one-half of the total U.S. hydroelectric capacity for electricity generation is concentrated in three States (Washington, California and Oregon) with approximately 27 percent in Washington, the location of the Nation’s largest hydroelectric facility – the Grand Coulee Dam.
Image of a map of the contiguous 48 states, showing the top hydropower producing states in 1998. number 1 was Washington, number 2 was California, number 3 Tennessee, number 4 Oregon and number 5 New York
It is important to note that only a small percentage of all dams in the United States produce electricity. Most dams were constructed solely to provide irrigation and flood control.
HYDROPOWER AND THE ENVIROMENT
Some people regard hydropower as the ideal fuel for electricity generation because, unlike the nonrenewable fuels used to generate electricity, it is almost free, there are no waste products, and hydropower does not pollute the water or the air. However, it is criticized because it does change the environment by affecting natural habitats. For instance, in the Columbia River, salmon must swim upstream to their spawning grounds to reproduce, but the series of dams gets in their way. Different approaches to fixing this problem have been used, including the construction of "fish la
Power from Moving water
OWER FROM MOVING WATER
Hopes abound that a new generation of technologies can make clean, affordable electricity from power of tides, waves, or any water in motion
TIDAL POWER A 300-kW turbine prototype, developed by Marine Current Turbines Ltd., was installed over a year ago in Britain's Bristol Channel to take advantage of the 5-knot tidal flow.
Capturing and using the ocean's power to generate electricity is exploiting nature at its most basic. Covering 70% of Earth, the oceans hold immense energy through moon-driven tides and wind-powered waves, and they contain thermal energy from the heat of the sun.
For decades, scientists and engineers have tried to channel this potential into electricity with small success. They've found that containing and converting this potent power to electricity is far from simple or cost-effective.
But over the past few years, ocean energy advocates around the world have been claiming that technology is improving and that they are onto something big. Like renewable energy entrepreneurs in wind and solar power, those in ocean energy hope that global warming, high fossil fuel prices, growing worldwide electricity demand, and public opposition to environmentally invasive, big-scale energy projects will give them the push they need to get ocean energy to the marketplace.
These ocean technologists face a difficult task, however. First and foremost, the ocean is a wild partner. More than a few technologies have been torn apart when actually placed in the sea. And there is the money problem.
"They can't get government or private R&D funding without showing their device is feasible, and they can't prove it is feasible without R&D money to develop the technology," says Roger Bedard, manager for wave and tidal flow energy business development for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a utility-funded nonprofit center.
This dilemma is most obvious in the U.S., where there is no federal ocean energy program. Andrew R. Trenka, a project officer for Department of Energy biomass programs, was DOE's technical lead on ocean energy when it had a program 15 years ago. He says DOE did an assessment of ocean energy potential in the early 1990s after investing around $250 million, nearly all in ocean thermal energy technologies. DOE decided that the oceans' electricity contribution would be small and geographically localized and the return on investment would be marginal compared with wind, photovoltaic, or biomass. The program was soon shut down.
Trenka's favorite project, ocean thermal energy, which uses differences in temperature between near-surface and deep-ocean waters to generate power, required huge investments and a long payback, he says. Tidal and wave energy are the only technologies in play today, he adds.
Most action has been outside the U.S. However, into the federal void have stepped states and even a few cities and local utility districts that are ponying up small R&D grants or have made agreements to buy electricity generated by ocean energy demonstration programs.
EPRI is also involved and is nearing completion of an assessment of potential U.S. wave energy sites and starting to examine tidal flow areas. EPRI's program is partially funded by states, Bedard says, to serve as an "honest broker," putting technology developers together with funders and locations.
PART OF THE PROBLEM, he says, is that there are only five states with good tidal flows and maybe eight states with good waves. "The question is: Will Congress support something with so few states? We know we must diversify the nation's energy, but as the saying goes, 'Electrons flow according to the laws of physics; electricity flows according to the laws of politics.' "
State organizations are also trying to combine and focus their small resources. The Vermont-based Clean Energy States Alliance is made up of organizations in 12 states that have set up trusts to fund renewable energy projects. The states have put most of the money into wind, solar, and biomass, according to Lewis Milford, the alliance's director, but the states, too, are assessing ocean energy projects, which are starting to be funded.
In fact, small ocean energy projects are beginning in Massachusetts, New York City, off the coasts of Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Washington, and in San Francisco. Only two have produced electricity.
Money in the trust funds has come from bond initiatives or ratepayer assessments to support renewable energy. In San Francisco, for instance, voter-passed initiatives are providing $100 million for renewable energy projects.
"San Francisco has a rather visionary electorate," says Peter O'Donnell, senior energy analyst with the city. "The citizens are committed to eventually having 100% renewable power for the city. Some may say it's crazy, but it is a collective craziness."
The board of supervisors called for 1 MW of tidal power on the grid by January 2006, he says, but later scaled back to 150 kW.
The city is exploring placing a tidal-driven power source under the Golden Gate Bridge in the near term and, later on, placing wave units two or three miles off the coast in an area where it already has right-of-way for a sewage outfall.
O'Donnell says a $4 million tidal demonstration is planned for next year, and a British company, HydroVenturi Inc., has shown an interest in building and paying for the unit. But questions have been raised about the company's ability to secure funding. The company's London office did not respond to C&EN's interview requests.
"What we are trying to do in San Francisco is a natural reaction to the absence of leadership from Washington," O'Donnell continues. "We have talked to DOE, but they are interested in clean coal."
Europe, Australia, and other parts of the world are further along in developing alternative energy sources, mostly because of active support by their governments, which in turn spurs private funders to come to the table. Government encouragement has been in the form of R&D seed funds, engineering support, or mandated production goals or targets requiring utilities to buy renewable energy, which can sometimes include ocean energy.
As a result, several overseas projects are generating electricity from ocean power--although the quantities are small and not at commercial scale. More are planned, but where ocean energy is today is similar to where wind energy was a few decades ago, says George M. Hagerman Jr., senior research associate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University's Center for Energy & the Global Environment.
"Most of the ocean technologies have undergone 'proof of concept' demonstrations, but they are in their infancy compared to wind energy," Hagerman says. "With wind there used to be many different technologies with all kinds of turbines out there. Now, most wind farms look pretty much the same. This is not true for ocean energy.
"The Energetech wave device looks nothing like the Pelamis wave energy converter or the Archimedes Wave Swing or the Wave Dragon, yet all use wave power as a source of energy," he explains. "They are completely different. It is a sign of immaturity in the industry.
"MOST IMPORTANT, you must remember, it is one thing to have a device in a wave tank or conduct a demonstration and show good efficiency and all that, but it is another thing altogether to build at full scale, put in it the ocean, and let the ocean hammer on it for a couple of decades."
Still, Hagerman is an ocean energy advocate, albeit a realistic one. He points to several technologies that, in his view, have commercial potential and are "in the water" or soon will be.
The technologies come in two broad forms--those that use waves and those that use tidal energy. Both waves and tides vary in intensity, but tides can be predicted decades in advance, Bedard notes, unlike wind or sunlight irradiance. Predictability is important when supplying electricity to the grid or to individual users.
Waves are powered by winds and uneven solar heating, he says, and wave energy works best in ocean depths of at least 50 meters, before waves lose energy to the friction of a shallow sea bottom.
Moon-driven tides are completely predictable and can be powerful forces, especially in areas with high tidal ranges where a turbine could be powered on incoming and outgoing tides. Natural constrictions can also help funnel the tidal flow to turbines, he notes, pointing, for example, to the mile span under the Golden Gate Bridge, which results in powerful currents as the huge bay fills and drains twice a day.
"Water is almost 1,000 times denser than air," Bedard adds, "so you can get the same ocean energy from a machine much smaller than a wind turbine and much cheaper."
The size advantage opens up new applications, Bedard believes, and energy developers are looking at small turbines that can be driven by rivers, streams, or sewage-treatment outfalls--essentially any concentrated moving water.
A sampling of technologies identified by Hagerman, Bedard, and others includes wave generators and free-floating power buoys that use waves for energy and turbines of various sizes to take advantage of the potential energy in tides, rivers, and other water in motion.
The only U.S. company to receive federal aid is a $12 million U.S. Navy appropriation for New Jersey's Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) for a series of pilot buoy projects offshore of Hawaii. CEO George W. Taylor says the company has now contracted to produce up to 1 MW of electricity for a Marine base in Hawaii. Taylor says OPT's systems approach is modular, based on small 125-kW buoys. However, he says, the company is developing a larger 500-kW buoy. It also has other small projects under development for Lockheed Martin Corp. and New Jersey, and OPT is discussing a large-scale project for Spain.
Another U.S. buoy company, AquaEnergy, is seeking permits to install four 250-kW buoys offshore Washington state. If its buoys are permitted and installed, AquaEnergy has a purchase agreement with a Clallam County Public Utility, which will buy the power for 4.5 cents per kW hour.
Ocean waves also power the 500-kW Limpet system, installed in 2000 on Scotland's west coast. Developed by Wavegen of Inverness, Scotland, Limpet is built onshore and generates electricity by using ocean waves to fill and empty a contained structure, pulling and pushing air through a turbine in what's called an "oscillating water column." Wavegen plans a second installation to be tunneled into a cliff face in the Faroes Islands, which are located midway between Iceland and Norway.
Another Scottish company, Ocean Power Delivery Ltd., has developed Pelamis, a snakelike floating device, recently moored offshore of Scotland. Last month, Pelamis was tied into the U.K. electric grid and began generating a peak output of 750 kW. Pelamis comes in several articulated, hinged sections, each 40 meters long and 3.5 meters in diameter. As ocean waves jerk the sections to and fro, hydraulic rams within the joints pump oil through turbines, driving generators and producing electricity, which is fed to the grid onshore.
The Australian company Energetech is installing a pilot wave energy project off the Australian coast. The 485-ton structure is tethered above the sea bottom and uses wave energy to drive air through an enclosed, funneled chamber, increasing air speed and concentration, before reaching a turbine and generator. It has a top system output of 750 kW.
U.S. trials are planned for Pelamis and Energetech technologies. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have committed to provide $1 million of the $3.5 million needed for an Energetech pilot project in Port Judith, R.I., for a three-year trial starting in 2006. Maine is exploring a Pelamis pilot project.
Looking at turbines, the world's largest tidal turbine--a turbine powered by incoming and outgoing tides--is La Rance station, which produces some 240 MW and straddles a French estuary. Built in the 1960s, La Rance is likely to be the last of its type due to costs, size, and environmental problems.
Instead, a second generation of individual freestanding turbines are being installed in Europe and the U.S.
Marine Current Turbines Ltd., for example, placed a pilot 300-kW single rotor turbine in the Bristol Channel in southwest England and Wales in May 2003. Technical Director Peter Fraenkel says the company has developed a new generation of twin rotor units with the potential to generate up to 1 MW, depending on tidal flow. A trial is expected late next year, Fraenkel says, and the units will be arrayed in "farms."
These units are similar to wind turbines, he says, but with much smaller and slower rotors--in the range of 30 feet in diameter, as compared to 300 feet for a wind turbine. Tidal turbines turn about 30 revolutions per minute, about half the speed of wind turbines.
In New York City's East River, a Virginia company, Verdant Power, is installing much smaller 15-foot-diameter turbines in a localized energy application for the borough of Queens and the community of Astoria next to the river.
Trey Taylor, Verdant cofounder and president, says his company's "free-flow" turbine systems would generate "village-scale" electrical power. The goal is distributed energy, generated in an environmentally benign way from a renewable source.
Verdant ran one of its small 36-kW turbines in a trial last year and is now installing six turbines on the bottom of the East River, generating 200 kW of peak power. If all goes well, over the next two years, Verdant will expand the system to 200 to 300 turbines, generating 10 MW of electricity, he says.
Taylor sees future applications ranging from remote villages to areas with limited transmission lines, like New York City.
"RIVERS, STREAMS, tides, ocean currents, aqueducts, irrigation canals, wastewater treatment outfalls--they all can be used for electrical power," Taylor says.
Verdant has received about $1 million from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, which supports renewable energy. A NYSERDA official emphasizes that the project is one of few potential new sources of electricity for New York City. Nothing will be visible from the river surface other than a power line, the official says, but notes that many tests are to come, particularly impact on aquatic life, ship traffic, and maintenance.
A NYSERDA study estimates there is the potential for 1,000-plus MW of stream-based electricity generation in New York state.
Verdant also recently won a $500,000 grant to install six turbines in the Merrimack River in northern Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative program.
How far these small grants will go toward commercialization of ocean energy is questioned by Bedard, who stresses that no new energy source has been developed without strong government support.
Jimmy Ferguson, managing director of Wavegen, notes that the U.K. has a goal of generating 10% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010 and 15% by 2015, and Scotland has set a target of 40% renewable energy by 2020.
The U.K. government, he says, has invested more than $100 million in marine power, and his company gets about 30% of its funding from the government, which greatly leverages the 70% in private equity.
"Renewables aren't cheap," he says. "To take off, they need something like a golf handicap to allow them to go head-to-head with fossil fuels. Otherwise, you will get these little groups to put in a small installation; an odd prototype will pop up here and there to prove the technology.
"It won't take off in a big way until the proper legislative framework is put in place and the business community can see a way that they can turn a buck and provide a greener planet and make a good business case at the same time."
Chemical & Engineering News
Hopes abound that a new generation of technologies can make clean, affordable electricity from power of tides, waves, or any water in motion
TIDAL POWER A 300-kW turbine prototype, developed by Marine Current Turbines Ltd., was installed over a year ago in Britain's Bristol Channel to take advantage of the 5-knot tidal flow.
Capturing and using the ocean's power to generate electricity is exploiting nature at its most basic. Covering 70% of Earth, the oceans hold immense energy through moon-driven tides and wind-powered waves, and they contain thermal energy from the heat of the sun.
For decades, scientists and engineers have tried to channel this potential into electricity with small success. They've found that containing and converting this potent power to electricity is far from simple or cost-effective.
But over the past few years, ocean energy advocates around the world have been claiming that technology is improving and that they are onto something big. Like renewable energy entrepreneurs in wind and solar power, those in ocean energy hope that global warming, high fossil fuel prices, growing worldwide electricity demand, and public opposition to environmentally invasive, big-scale energy projects will give them the push they need to get ocean energy to the marketplace.
These ocean technologists face a difficult task, however. First and foremost, the ocean is a wild partner. More than a few technologies have been torn apart when actually placed in the sea. And there is the money problem.
"They can't get government or private R&D funding without showing their device is feasible, and they can't prove it is feasible without R&D money to develop the technology," says Roger Bedard, manager for wave and tidal flow energy business development for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a utility-funded nonprofit center.
This dilemma is most obvious in the U.S., where there is no federal ocean energy program. Andrew R. Trenka, a project officer for Department of Energy biomass programs, was DOE's technical lead on ocean energy when it had a program 15 years ago. He says DOE did an assessment of ocean energy potential in the early 1990s after investing around $250 million, nearly all in ocean thermal energy technologies. DOE decided that the oceans' electricity contribution would be small and geographically localized and the return on investment would be marginal compared with wind, photovoltaic, or biomass. The program was soon shut down.
Trenka's favorite project, ocean thermal energy, which uses differences in temperature between near-surface and deep-ocean waters to generate power, required huge investments and a long payback, he says. Tidal and wave energy are the only technologies in play today, he adds.
Most action has been outside the U.S. However, into the federal void have stepped states and even a few cities and local utility districts that are ponying up small R&D grants or have made agreements to buy electricity generated by ocean energy demonstration programs.
EPRI is also involved and is nearing completion of an assessment of potential U.S. wave energy sites and starting to examine tidal flow areas. EPRI's program is partially funded by states, Bedard says, to serve as an "honest broker," putting technology developers together with funders and locations.
PART OF THE PROBLEM, he says, is that there are only five states with good tidal flows and maybe eight states with good waves. "The question is: Will Congress support something with so few states? We know we must diversify the nation's energy, but as the saying goes, 'Electrons flow according to the laws of physics; electricity flows according to the laws of politics.' "
State organizations are also trying to combine and focus their small resources. The Vermont-based Clean Energy States Alliance is made up of organizations in 12 states that have set up trusts to fund renewable energy projects. The states have put most of the money into wind, solar, and biomass, according to Lewis Milford, the alliance's director, but the states, too, are assessing ocean energy projects, which are starting to be funded.
In fact, small ocean energy projects are beginning in Massachusetts, New York City, off the coasts of Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Washington, and in San Francisco. Only two have produced electricity.
Money in the trust funds has come from bond initiatives or ratepayer assessments to support renewable energy. In San Francisco, for instance, voter-passed initiatives are providing $100 million for renewable energy projects.
"San Francisco has a rather visionary electorate," says Peter O'Donnell, senior energy analyst with the city. "The citizens are committed to eventually having 100% renewable power for the city. Some may say it's crazy, but it is a collective craziness."
The board of supervisors called for 1 MW of tidal power on the grid by January 2006, he says, but later scaled back to 150 kW.
The city is exploring placing a tidal-driven power source under the Golden Gate Bridge in the near term and, later on, placing wave units two or three miles off the coast in an area where it already has right-of-way for a sewage outfall.
O'Donnell says a $4 million tidal demonstration is planned for next year, and a British company, HydroVenturi Inc., has shown an interest in building and paying for the unit. But questions have been raised about the company's ability to secure funding. The company's London office did not respond to C&EN's interview requests.
"What we are trying to do in San Francisco is a natural reaction to the absence of leadership from Washington," O'Donnell continues. "We have talked to DOE, but they are interested in clean coal."
Europe, Australia, and other parts of the world are further along in developing alternative energy sources, mostly because of active support by their governments, which in turn spurs private funders to come to the table. Government encouragement has been in the form of R&D seed funds, engineering support, or mandated production goals or targets requiring utilities to buy renewable energy, which can sometimes include ocean energy.
As a result, several overseas projects are generating electricity from ocean power--although the quantities are small and not at commercial scale. More are planned, but where ocean energy is today is similar to where wind energy was a few decades ago, says George M. Hagerman Jr., senior research associate at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University's Center for Energy & the Global Environment.
"Most of the ocean technologies have undergone 'proof of concept' demonstrations, but they are in their infancy compared to wind energy," Hagerman says. "With wind there used to be many different technologies with all kinds of turbines out there. Now, most wind farms look pretty much the same. This is not true for ocean energy.
"The Energetech wave device looks nothing like the Pelamis wave energy converter or the Archimedes Wave Swing or the Wave Dragon, yet all use wave power as a source of energy," he explains. "They are completely different. It is a sign of immaturity in the industry.
"MOST IMPORTANT, you must remember, it is one thing to have a device in a wave tank or conduct a demonstration and show good efficiency and all that, but it is another thing altogether to build at full scale, put in it the ocean, and let the ocean hammer on it for a couple of decades."
Still, Hagerman is an ocean energy advocate, albeit a realistic one. He points to several technologies that, in his view, have commercial potential and are "in the water" or soon will be.
The technologies come in two broad forms--those that use waves and those that use tidal energy. Both waves and tides vary in intensity, but tides can be predicted decades in advance, Bedard notes, unlike wind or sunlight irradiance. Predictability is important when supplying electricity to the grid or to individual users.
Waves are powered by winds and uneven solar heating, he says, and wave energy works best in ocean depths of at least 50 meters, before waves lose energy to the friction of a shallow sea bottom.
Moon-driven tides are completely predictable and can be powerful forces, especially in areas with high tidal ranges where a turbine could be powered on incoming and outgoing tides. Natural constrictions can also help funnel the tidal flow to turbines, he notes, pointing, for example, to the mile span under the Golden Gate Bridge, which results in powerful currents as the huge bay fills and drains twice a day.
"Water is almost 1,000 times denser than air," Bedard adds, "so you can get the same ocean energy from a machine much smaller than a wind turbine and much cheaper."
The size advantage opens up new applications, Bedard believes, and energy developers are looking at small turbines that can be driven by rivers, streams, or sewage-treatment outfalls--essentially any concentrated moving water.
A sampling of technologies identified by Hagerman, Bedard, and others includes wave generators and free-floating power buoys that use waves for energy and turbines of various sizes to take advantage of the potential energy in tides, rivers, and other water in motion.
The only U.S. company to receive federal aid is a $12 million U.S. Navy appropriation for New Jersey's Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) for a series of pilot buoy projects offshore of Hawaii. CEO George W. Taylor says the company has now contracted to produce up to 1 MW of electricity for a Marine base in Hawaii. Taylor says OPT's systems approach is modular, based on small 125-kW buoys. However, he says, the company is developing a larger 500-kW buoy. It also has other small projects under development for Lockheed Martin Corp. and New Jersey, and OPT is discussing a large-scale project for Spain.
Another U.S. buoy company, AquaEnergy, is seeking permits to install four 250-kW buoys offshore Washington state. If its buoys are permitted and installed, AquaEnergy has a purchase agreement with a Clallam County Public Utility, which will buy the power for 4.5 cents per kW hour.
Ocean waves also power the 500-kW Limpet system, installed in 2000 on Scotland's west coast. Developed by Wavegen of Inverness, Scotland, Limpet is built onshore and generates electricity by using ocean waves to fill and empty a contained structure, pulling and pushing air through a turbine in what's called an "oscillating water column." Wavegen plans a second installation to be tunneled into a cliff face in the Faroes Islands, which are located midway between Iceland and Norway.
Another Scottish company, Ocean Power Delivery Ltd., has developed Pelamis, a snakelike floating device, recently moored offshore of Scotland. Last month, Pelamis was tied into the U.K. electric grid and began generating a peak output of 750 kW. Pelamis comes in several articulated, hinged sections, each 40 meters long and 3.5 meters in diameter. As ocean waves jerk the sections to and fro, hydraulic rams within the joints pump oil through turbines, driving generators and producing electricity, which is fed to the grid onshore.
The Australian company Energetech is installing a pilot wave energy project off the Australian coast. The 485-ton structure is tethered above the sea bottom and uses wave energy to drive air through an enclosed, funneled chamber, increasing air speed and concentration, before reaching a turbine and generator. It has a top system output of 750 kW.
U.S. trials are planned for Pelamis and Energetech technologies. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts have committed to provide $1 million of the $3.5 million needed for an Energetech pilot project in Port Judith, R.I., for a three-year trial starting in 2006. Maine is exploring a Pelamis pilot project.
Looking at turbines, the world's largest tidal turbine--a turbine powered by incoming and outgoing tides--is La Rance station, which produces some 240 MW and straddles a French estuary. Built in the 1960s, La Rance is likely to be the last of its type due to costs, size, and environmental problems.
Instead, a second generation of individual freestanding turbines are being installed in Europe and the U.S.
Marine Current Turbines Ltd., for example, placed a pilot 300-kW single rotor turbine in the Bristol Channel in southwest England and Wales in May 2003. Technical Director Peter Fraenkel says the company has developed a new generation of twin rotor units with the potential to generate up to 1 MW, depending on tidal flow. A trial is expected late next year, Fraenkel says, and the units will be arrayed in "farms."
These units are similar to wind turbines, he says, but with much smaller and slower rotors--in the range of 30 feet in diameter, as compared to 300 feet for a wind turbine. Tidal turbines turn about 30 revolutions per minute, about half the speed of wind turbines.
In New York City's East River, a Virginia company, Verdant Power, is installing much smaller 15-foot-diameter turbines in a localized energy application for the borough of Queens and the community of Astoria next to the river.
Trey Taylor, Verdant cofounder and president, says his company's "free-flow" turbine systems would generate "village-scale" electrical power. The goal is distributed energy, generated in an environmentally benign way from a renewable source.
Verdant ran one of its small 36-kW turbines in a trial last year and is now installing six turbines on the bottom of the East River, generating 200 kW of peak power. If all goes well, over the next two years, Verdant will expand the system to 200 to 300 turbines, generating 10 MW of electricity, he says.
Taylor sees future applications ranging from remote villages to areas with limited transmission lines, like New York City.
"RIVERS, STREAMS, tides, ocean currents, aqueducts, irrigation canals, wastewater treatment outfalls--they all can be used for electrical power," Taylor says.
Verdant has received about $1 million from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, which supports renewable energy. A NYSERDA official emphasizes that the project is one of few potential new sources of electricity for New York City. Nothing will be visible from the river surface other than a power line, the official says, but notes that many tests are to come, particularly impact on aquatic life, ship traffic, and maintenance.
A NYSERDA study estimates there is the potential for 1,000-plus MW of stream-based electricity generation in New York state.
Verdant also recently won a $500,000 grant to install six turbines in the Merrimack River in northern Massachusetts through the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative program.
How far these small grants will go toward commercialization of ocean energy is questioned by Bedard, who stresses that no new energy source has been developed without strong government support.
Jimmy Ferguson, managing director of Wavegen, notes that the U.K. has a goal of generating 10% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010 and 15% by 2015, and Scotland has set a target of 40% renewable energy by 2020.
The U.K. government, he says, has invested more than $100 million in marine power, and his company gets about 30% of its funding from the government, which greatly leverages the 70% in private equity.
"Renewables aren't cheap," he says. "To take off, they need something like a golf handicap to allow them to go head-to-head with fossil fuels. Otherwise, you will get these little groups to put in a small installation; an odd prototype will pop up here and there to prove the technology.
"It won't take off in a big way until the proper legislative framework is put in place and the business community can see a way that they can turn a buck and provide a greener planet and make a good business case at the same time."
Chemical & Engineering News
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