Abstract

The worldwide demand for electrical power continues to grow, even if the rate of growth has slowed in developed countries. The generation of electrical power releases large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and, even if there is uncertainty about the precise consequences of this, the effects may not be entirely desirable. Therefore, there is a great push to generate ‘clean’ power by means such as wind turbines. The presentation will look broadly at the generation of power from wind and waves, drawing on the presenters own experiences. The talk will cover the strengths, and weaknesses, of these technologies, and offer a view of their prospects.

Richard is an electrical engineer with an interest in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency of electrical appliances. Current research focuses on low maintenance generators for wind turbines; linear generators for wave power and energy efficient power conversion for power supplies and electric appliances such as compact fluorescent light