Consumer and environmental advocates have reached a settlement with Duke Energy Carolinas on its Save-A-Watt program. The agreement, which must still be approved by state regulators, increases targets for energy conservation and caps Duke’s potential earnings from the initiative.
The Charlottesville-Va.-based Southern Environmental Law Center, which was the lead legal team for the environmental groups, announced the settlement Friday morning. It calls for Save-A-Watt to reduce energy demand by 2 percent over the next four years. It sets a target of reducing demand by as much as 8 percent by 2020. The environmental groups say that would be the equivalent of the annual output from Duke’s 825-megawatt expansion at the controversial Cliffside coal plant on the border of Cleveland and Rutherford counties.
The groups say that capping Duke’s profits will protect consumers from unreasonably high charges for energy efficiency.
Greater conservation efforts and lower costs were key issues for environmental groups and the Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which represents customer interests in utility cases, as they fought Duke for two years over Save-A-Watt.
Michael Regan, Southeast regional air-policy expert for the Environmental Defense Fund says the environmental groups believe the settlement makes the program better for customers, the environment and for Duke. He says the groups want to support utilities in their efforts to provide energy-efficiency programs. And he says incentives built into the settlement that allow Duke to increase its rate of return based on achieving specified efficiency targets accomplish that goal.
Duke also got what it considers an important concession. Duke will be allowed to make a return on part of what it would have cost to build power plants to provide the energy the program saves.
Duke has said eliminating compensation based on such “avoided costs” would be a deal-breaker. Duke contends such compensation puts efficiency on a more equal footing with electricity sales for generating profits. Without that kind of incentive, Duke has said, efficiency would always take a back seat in utilities’ business plans.
“The fact that the avoided-cost model is in there, that it’s based on pay-for-performance and that it is up to us to make sure the programs really work were all keys to the settlement for Duke,” says company spokesman Tim Pettit.
The public staff and environmental groups had opposed the avoided-costs idea, largely on fears that it could provide Duke with unreasonable profits.
The public staff also worried about departing from standard regulatory practice. In North Carolina, utilities are generally allowed to make a return on the money they spend. An avoided-costs model breaks that connection and offers Duke a return on money it does not spend.
But an important concession to the public staff was a decision to make Save-A-Watt a four-year pilot initiative. The N.C. Utilities Commission will review the program at the end of that period and decide whether it has performed well enough to be made permanent.
The avoided costs outlined in the settlement will track the model Ohio adopted for Duke’s version of the Save-A-Watt program in that state. It reduces the percentage of avoided costs on which Duke can earn a return. Duke had originally asked to make a rate of return on 90 percent of what it would have cost to provide the energy that was saved. Under the settlement, Duke will get a return on 50 percent of the avoided costs for energy-conservation programs and 75 percent of the avoided costs for programs that shift use away from peak times.
Like in Ohio, the settlement lets Duke cover what are called “lost margins.” Several environmental groups have recognized the need to allow Duke to recover those fixed costs for generating and delivering electricity when efficiency programs reduce demand.
The settlement announced Friday will form the basis of a Save-A-Watt proposal Duke will make to S.C. regulators this summer. The S.C. Public Service Commission rejected Duke’s first proposal in February.
Save-A-Watt is an energy-efficiency initiative Duke has been touting for years. The proposal comprises a series of programs to help customers use less electricity or shift their use of power from peak-demand hours to low-use times.
Some of the programs — such as discounts for energy-saving light bulbs and financial incentives to buy high-efficiency appliances — started June 1 in both Carolinas. But neither state has approved the full initiative.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has led the environmental groups in dissecting the program. Opponents contended the original proposal would reward Duke too handsomely and primarily for shifting the use of electricity from busy times. That would conserve little energy but save utilities money. Steve Smith, executive director of the alliance, says his group’s concern from the beginning was to make sure Save-A-Watt resulted in significant reductions in energy use.
In North Carolina, the commission approved Save-A-Watt’s programs but withheld judgment on Duke’s compensation. The commission asked for additional comments on the issue. As opponents were formulating their responses to that request, they and Duke resumed negotiations in North Carolina.
Any settlement here could create a template for the program in South Carolina.
One key feature of the compromise will be the creation of an advisory group that will assist in reviewing for Save-A-Watt.
Friday, June 12, 2009
China stops 2 hydropower dams; cites environment
China's environment ministry has suspended construction of two ambitious hydropower dams in the upper Yangtze River region, saying the projects were illegal because they were started without necessary environmental assessments.
The announcement, carried widely in state media Friday, is an unusually aggressive move by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, whose local bureaus answer to local governments despite it being upgraded to a full ministry last year.
The dams are part of an estimated 200 billion yuan ($30 billion) project involving hydropower stations along the Jinsha River tributary in southwestern China which environmentalists have said would damage the region's biodiversity.
Two large state-owned power companies, Huadian Power and Huaneng Power, started blocking the middle reaches of the river in January without approval from the ministry, it said in a notice on its Web site late Thursday.
"To protect the management of the environment ... and to punish the violation of the environment and illegal acts regarding the environment, the environmental ministry decided to suspend the construction projects in the middle reaches of the Jinsha River," spokesman Tao Detian said in the statement.
Tao said additional environmental reviews would be needed for the hydropower projects to go ahead.
Hydroelectric power is viewed as a relatively clean alternative to the heavily polluting coal-fired plants that are China's main source of energy. But some critics have questioned the potential environmental and social impact of so many huge projects.
The Beijing News newspaper quoted an unidentified person who works for a hydropower project at a large power company as saying it was the first time the environment ministry has responded so strongly to hydropower.
China plans to build 12 hydropower projects along the 1,423-mile (2,290-kilometer) Jinsha River that flows from northern Qinghai province to Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.
The electricity output from the stations is estimated to equal the output from the massive Three Gorges Dam in central China.
Dams have big impacts on communities both upstream and downstream, and the companies should take into consideration the ecology of the Lijiang area, Tao said in the statement. Lijiang is an important tourism and trekking area in southwestern Chi
The announcement, carried widely in state media Friday, is an unusually aggressive move by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, whose local bureaus answer to local governments despite it being upgraded to a full ministry last year.
The dams are part of an estimated 200 billion yuan ($30 billion) project involving hydropower stations along the Jinsha River tributary in southwestern China which environmentalists have said would damage the region's biodiversity.
Two large state-owned power companies, Huadian Power and Huaneng Power, started blocking the middle reaches of the river in January without approval from the ministry, it said in a notice on its Web site late Thursday.
"To protect the management of the environment ... and to punish the violation of the environment and illegal acts regarding the environment, the environmental ministry decided to suspend the construction projects in the middle reaches of the Jinsha River," spokesman Tao Detian said in the statement.
Tao said additional environmental reviews would be needed for the hydropower projects to go ahead.
Hydroelectric power is viewed as a relatively clean alternative to the heavily polluting coal-fired plants that are China's main source of energy. But some critics have questioned the potential environmental and social impact of so many huge projects.
The Beijing News newspaper quoted an unidentified person who works for a hydropower project at a large power company as saying it was the first time the environment ministry has responded so strongly to hydropower.
China plans to build 12 hydropower projects along the 1,423-mile (2,290-kilometer) Jinsha River that flows from northern Qinghai province to Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.
The electricity output from the stations is estimated to equal the output from the massive Three Gorges Dam in central China.
Dams have big impacts on communities both upstream and downstream, and the companies should take into consideration the ecology of the Lijiang area, Tao said in the statement. Lijiang is an important tourism and trekking area in southwestern Chi
Sen. Boxer Pushes EPA to Reveal 'High Hazard' Coal Ash Sites
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is calling on U.S. EPA to reveal the confidential locations of dozens of coal ash impoundment sites considered dangerous.
Speaking with reporters this morning, Boxer said EPA has determined that at least 44 of the hundreds of coal ash piles identified across the country pose a "high hazard," meaning they could threaten human life if they fail -- like an impoundment that collapsed at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility late last year. The agency collected the information on the locations from the utility companies that operate the ash disposal sites.
Boxer said EPA is notifying and working with first responders this week while conducting evaluations at the sites to determine whether there is an imminent threat of failure.
But Boxer said EPA told her the agency could not reveal the location of these 44 sites, due to concerns from the Department of Homeland Security and the Army Corps of Engineers about national security, a decision Boxer finds unsettling.
"If these sites are so hazardous, and if the neighborhoods nearby could be harmed irreparably, then I believe it is essential to let people know," she said. "I think secrecy might lead to inaction."
Boxer and her committee staff have been informed of the locations of the sites, and she was permitted to inform only the senators whose states have the high hazard sites about their locations, she said.
She told reporters she is sending a letter to EPA, DHS, and the Army Corps today asking whether the public disclosure of the hazardous coal ash waste sites is consistent with the treatment of other hazardous sites, noting that locations of Superfund sites, power plants and other sites are common knowledge.
"There's really no need to do this," Boxer said, pledging to hold more committee hearings on coal ash.
Concern about the threat of another coal ash accident has been mounting since last year's TVA spill, in which a retention pond at the power utility's Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed and loosed 1.1 billion gallons of ash and sludge over Roane County, Tenn.
The spill is expected to cost more than $1 billion to clean up and has prompted a renewed call for tougher regulations on coal ash impoundments.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said the agency will propose coal ash regulations by the end of the year and will determine whether to reclassify byproducts of coal combustion as hazardous waste.
Boxer dismissed suggestions that there may be a need for a bill to mandate tougher regulations on coal ash storage, because she was confident EPA would do it on its own.
"They don't need legislation if they do their job," she said.
Speaking with reporters this morning, Boxer said EPA has determined that at least 44 of the hundreds of coal ash piles identified across the country pose a "high hazard," meaning they could threaten human life if they fail -- like an impoundment that collapsed at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility late last year. The agency collected the information on the locations from the utility companies that operate the ash disposal sites.
Boxer said EPA is notifying and working with first responders this week while conducting evaluations at the sites to determine whether there is an imminent threat of failure.
But Boxer said EPA told her the agency could not reveal the location of these 44 sites, due to concerns from the Department of Homeland Security and the Army Corps of Engineers about national security, a decision Boxer finds unsettling.
"If these sites are so hazardous, and if the neighborhoods nearby could be harmed irreparably, then I believe it is essential to let people know," she said. "I think secrecy might lead to inaction."
Boxer and her committee staff have been informed of the locations of the sites, and she was permitted to inform only the senators whose states have the high hazard sites about their locations, she said.
She told reporters she is sending a letter to EPA, DHS, and the Army Corps today asking whether the public disclosure of the hazardous coal ash waste sites is consistent with the treatment of other hazardous sites, noting that locations of Superfund sites, power plants and other sites are common knowledge.
"There's really no need to do this," Boxer said, pledging to hold more committee hearings on coal ash.
Concern about the threat of another coal ash accident has been mounting since last year's TVA spill, in which a retention pond at the power utility's Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed and loosed 1.1 billion gallons of ash and sludge over Roane County, Tenn.
The spill is expected to cost more than $1 billion to clean up and has prompted a renewed call for tougher regulations on coal ash impoundments.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said the agency will propose coal ash regulations by the end of the year and will determine whether to reclassify byproducts of coal combustion as hazardous waste.
Boxer dismissed suggestions that there may be a need for a bill to mandate tougher regulations on coal ash storage, because she was confident EPA would do it on its own.
"They don't need legislation if they do their job," she said.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Green tea reduce stroke risk
Two cups of green tea a day may reduce a person's risk of having the most common form of stroke, say researchers.
According to researcher Professor Colin Binns, of the School of Public Health at Curtin University in Western Australia, the study shows that people who drink at least one cup of green tea a day reduce their risk of ischemic stroke, reports ABC Online.
"We can say if you are going to drink a beverage, then tea is the healthier option," said Binns. "We believe other kinds of tea are half as effective as green tea in reducing risk," he added. The findings have been published in the journal Stroke.
According to researcher Professor Colin Binns, of the School of Public Health at Curtin University in Western Australia, the study shows that people who drink at least one cup of green tea a day reduce their risk of ischemic stroke, reports ABC Online.
"We can say if you are going to drink a beverage, then tea is the healthier option," said Binns. "We believe other kinds of tea are half as effective as green tea in reducing risk," he added. The findings have been published in the journal Stroke.
Bullets don't stop Guatemala green activist
His stride is an awkward hop, the scars on his abdomen and legs an ugly road map of hurt. Seven bullets tore into Yuri Melini -- that much is known.
Harder to figure out is who did it. Melini has a lot of enemies.
Drug traffickers. Midnight loggers. Mining giants. Corrupt military men. Politicians. The 47-year-old Melini has taken on all of them as lead agitator of a Guatemalan environmental advocacy group, the Center for Legal, Environmental and Social Action, or CALAS.
Melini doesn't seem surprised that police have yet to come up with a solid lead into September's shooting by a lone gunman. Or that telephone threats and sightings of shadowy men haven't stopped.
He opts for the bright side. "I'm alive," Melini says.
If you think it's not easy being green, try doing it in a place as violent as Guatemala, where environmentalism is often viewed as a radical pursuit and the rule of law remains a distant goal. Speaking out can bring a hit man to your door.
For the last nine years, Melini has spoken out a lot. Using a mix of grass-roots activism, lawsuits and old-fashioned lobbying, his organization tackles issues from illegal logging in protected forests and the impact of a growing mining industry to the supply and cleanliness of water.
Guatemala has plenty of other grave social problems, poverty and inequality among them. But Melini, who gave up his training as a physician to focus on conservation causes, says his environmental work ties into a wider effort to improve life for the powerless, including the country's large indigenous population.
"There are enough laws -- the problem is they are not being applied," Melini says, as government-supplied bodyguards wait outside his office in Guatemala City, the capital. "It is a matter of awareness and will: raising the awareness of the people and the will of the politicians."
Big triumphs have been few for CALAS, with a staff of 21 lawyers, engineers, agronomists, sociologists and other experts.
But a major victory came last June, when the group won a Supreme Court of Justice ruling that struck down parts of the nation's mining law as too lax. CALAS had argued in its legal challenge that the law didn't adequately safeguard people living near mining operations.
Melini has done battle with oil firms and gone to court to challenge a decision to allow logging in a mountain forest designated for protection.
In addition, he has complained loudly about damage caused by drug traffickers in a vast wilderness in the northern province of Peten, where smugglers fell trees to build secret airstrips and roads. This year, CALAS is to open its first offices in the region, home to some of its toughest fights and most dangerous adversaries.
Such crusades don't always charm. Melini acknowledges that even some environmentalists consider him too strident. He relies on foreign sources for funding, with most coming from a special environmental program of the Dutch government.
But admirers say Melini is breaking new ground by carrying environmental fights to the courtroom -- a tactic that is common in the United States but not in Guatemala or much of the surrounding region. Melini says he wants to create a legal-aid network devoted to environmental issues and to lobby for creating special environment courts.
"Environmental litigation across Central America is still not very common," said Erika Rosenthal, an attorney for the Oakland-based group Earthjustice. "That kind of advocacy . . . is sorely needed."
Last month, Melini was honored by the Irish-based human rights group Front Line for his efforts on illegal logging and mining issues. The group cited his attempts to bring attention to attacks on environmental activists. (He counted 128 during two years.)
Melini was ambushed outside his mother's house Sept. 4 by a gunman who fired from close range. The activist said he lay curled on the ground, awaiting the coup de grace, but the attacker left.
Nine months later, Melini gets around with a walker and faces more surgery. He's had residency offers from several countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands, but refused. He figures fleeing Guatemala would serve those behind the attack on him, whoever they are.
"I am like a tree," Melini says. "They chopped me down, and I'm bouncing back again."
Harder to figure out is who did it. Melini has a lot of enemies.
Drug traffickers. Midnight loggers. Mining giants. Corrupt military men. Politicians. The 47-year-old Melini has taken on all of them as lead agitator of a Guatemalan environmental advocacy group, the Center for Legal, Environmental and Social Action, or CALAS.
Melini doesn't seem surprised that police have yet to come up with a solid lead into September's shooting by a lone gunman. Or that telephone threats and sightings of shadowy men haven't stopped.
He opts for the bright side. "I'm alive," Melini says.
If you think it's not easy being green, try doing it in a place as violent as Guatemala, where environmentalism is often viewed as a radical pursuit and the rule of law remains a distant goal. Speaking out can bring a hit man to your door.
For the last nine years, Melini has spoken out a lot. Using a mix of grass-roots activism, lawsuits and old-fashioned lobbying, his organization tackles issues from illegal logging in protected forests and the impact of a growing mining industry to the supply and cleanliness of water.
Guatemala has plenty of other grave social problems, poverty and inequality among them. But Melini, who gave up his training as a physician to focus on conservation causes, says his environmental work ties into a wider effort to improve life for the powerless, including the country's large indigenous population.
"There are enough laws -- the problem is they are not being applied," Melini says, as government-supplied bodyguards wait outside his office in Guatemala City, the capital. "It is a matter of awareness and will: raising the awareness of the people and the will of the politicians."
Big triumphs have been few for CALAS, with a staff of 21 lawyers, engineers, agronomists, sociologists and other experts.
But a major victory came last June, when the group won a Supreme Court of Justice ruling that struck down parts of the nation's mining law as too lax. CALAS had argued in its legal challenge that the law didn't adequately safeguard people living near mining operations.
Melini has done battle with oil firms and gone to court to challenge a decision to allow logging in a mountain forest designated for protection.
In addition, he has complained loudly about damage caused by drug traffickers in a vast wilderness in the northern province of Peten, where smugglers fell trees to build secret airstrips and roads. This year, CALAS is to open its first offices in the region, home to some of its toughest fights and most dangerous adversaries.
Such crusades don't always charm. Melini acknowledges that even some environmentalists consider him too strident. He relies on foreign sources for funding, with most coming from a special environmental program of the Dutch government.
But admirers say Melini is breaking new ground by carrying environmental fights to the courtroom -- a tactic that is common in the United States but not in Guatemala or much of the surrounding region. Melini says he wants to create a legal-aid network devoted to environmental issues and to lobby for creating special environment courts.
"Environmental litigation across Central America is still not very common," said Erika Rosenthal, an attorney for the Oakland-based group Earthjustice. "That kind of advocacy . . . is sorely needed."
Last month, Melini was honored by the Irish-based human rights group Front Line for his efforts on illegal logging and mining issues. The group cited his attempts to bring attention to attacks on environmental activists. (He counted 128 during two years.)
Melini was ambushed outside his mother's house Sept. 4 by a gunman who fired from close range. The activist said he lay curled on the ground, awaiting the coup de grace, but the attacker left.
Nine months later, Melini gets around with a walker and faces more surgery. He's had residency offers from several countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands, but refused. He figures fleeing Guatemala would serve those behind the attack on him, whoever they are.
"I am like a tree," Melini says. "They chopped me down, and I'm bouncing back again."
British 'Searaser' invention promises green power revolution on the waves
Alvin Smith had his eureka moment not in the bath, but in the swimming pool. 'I was swimming round the pool, making little waves, and it struck me how much power there was in the displacement of the water,' he remembers. 'You think of a 500-tonne boat: a wave comes along, lifts that whole boat, and then drops it down again. You must be able to harness some of that, I thought.'
His subsequent invention would have made Archimedes proud, and should be making the renewables industry very excited.
Dubbed 'Searaser', it consists of what looks like a navigation buoy, but is in fact a simple arrangement of ballast and floats connected by a piston. As a wave passes the device, the float is lifted, raising the piston and compressing water. The float sinks back down on the tail of the wave on to a second float, compressing water again on the downstroke.
What is particularly clever about Searaser, however, is its simplicity. Where most marine energy devices have sealed, lubricated innards and complex electronics, Searaser is lubricated entirely by seawater, has no electronic components and is even self-cleaning. Smith describes it as 'Third-World mechanics', but this belies the sophistication of the concept.
'The beauty of it is that we're only making a pump, and bringing water ashore,' he explains. 'All the other technology needed to generate the electricity already exists.'
Searaser is designed to pump water either straight through a sea-level turbine to generate electricity, or up to a clifftop reservoir, where the water could be stored until needed, then allowed to flow back down to the sea through turbines, generating electricity on demand.
The second option is the one about which Smith is most passionate. By effectively storing the energy generated by Searaser to be used on demand, his system would solve a problem that dogs almost all renewable technologies – their variability. Energy that can be summoned at will is not only more valuable, but also allows the grid to compensate for other, less easily controlled renewables such as wind and solar.
Early trials of the prototype Searaser, one of which was completed in April, have proved encouraging. Despite being less than a tenth of the size of the version he hopes will eventually be supplying power to our homes, Smith's homemade machine managed to pump some 112,000 litres of water a day during the trial, at times operating from waves a mere 6in high.
The eventual machine will be capable of generating 1 megawatt of electricity – enough to supply some 1,700 homes – at prices that the team behind Searaser believe will be lower than most other renewable technologies.
As an intermediate step, a trial of two midsize machines should go ahead towards the end of this year, with a university invited to monitor the trial and provide independent accreditation of the results. Although these machines won't generate electricity (they will simply pump water through a flow meter to determine their potential) they will demonstrate whether the technology can work for prolonged periods and in rough conditions.
For Smith, however – a man who could use a welder by the age of eight – the incremental steps between prototype and commercial deployment seem almost an irritation. His vision is already far advanced, and includes using the pressurised saltwater generated by Searaser to produce drinking water, using the same reverse osmosis process used in conventional, energy-hungry desalination plants.
'All you'd have to do is reduce the size of the piston and increase the size of the floats to increase the pressure,' he explains.
He has also put plenty of thought into how he would persuade planners and landowners to allow him to build reservoirs on top of cliffs to provide the energy storage for Searaser.
'The planning will frighten everyone,' he says, 'but if you were trying to produce as much energy from wind turbines, they'd be very visible; a reservoir you'd only see from above.'
Smith has also put thought into how the reservoir could be made as water-tight as possible – vital to avoid saltwater leaching into soils. By double-lining the reservoirs and including an outlet pipe in between the two linings, you would instantly be able to see if the uppermost lining had a puncture by watching the end of the outlet pipe.
'If you saw any water coming out, you'd know you had a leak and you could drain down the reservoir and sort it out,' he says.
Beyond being simply functional, however, Smith believes the reservoirs could be beautiful, providing recreational spaces for watersports or sites for shellfish farmers. 'I bet the birds would love it, too,' he adds.
Although Searaser is clearly a commercial project and Smith hopes to see a return on his patents, he is also keen to see the technology deployed abroad, given that its simplicity lends itself to installation and maintenance in the less-industrialised world.
'It's a modular system: a community could start off with two or three machines, and expand as necessary. It can go round the globe, it really can,' he says.
His subsequent invention would have made Archimedes proud, and should be making the renewables industry very excited.
Dubbed 'Searaser', it consists of what looks like a navigation buoy, but is in fact a simple arrangement of ballast and floats connected by a piston. As a wave passes the device, the float is lifted, raising the piston and compressing water. The float sinks back down on the tail of the wave on to a second float, compressing water again on the downstroke.
What is particularly clever about Searaser, however, is its simplicity. Where most marine energy devices have sealed, lubricated innards and complex electronics, Searaser is lubricated entirely by seawater, has no electronic components and is even self-cleaning. Smith describes it as 'Third-World mechanics', but this belies the sophistication of the concept.
'The beauty of it is that we're only making a pump, and bringing water ashore,' he explains. 'All the other technology needed to generate the electricity already exists.'
Searaser is designed to pump water either straight through a sea-level turbine to generate electricity, or up to a clifftop reservoir, where the water could be stored until needed, then allowed to flow back down to the sea through turbines, generating electricity on demand.
The second option is the one about which Smith is most passionate. By effectively storing the energy generated by Searaser to be used on demand, his system would solve a problem that dogs almost all renewable technologies – their variability. Energy that can be summoned at will is not only more valuable, but also allows the grid to compensate for other, less easily controlled renewables such as wind and solar.
Early trials of the prototype Searaser, one of which was completed in April, have proved encouraging. Despite being less than a tenth of the size of the version he hopes will eventually be supplying power to our homes, Smith's homemade machine managed to pump some 112,000 litres of water a day during the trial, at times operating from waves a mere 6in high.
The eventual machine will be capable of generating 1 megawatt of electricity – enough to supply some 1,700 homes – at prices that the team behind Searaser believe will be lower than most other renewable technologies.
As an intermediate step, a trial of two midsize machines should go ahead towards the end of this year, with a university invited to monitor the trial and provide independent accreditation of the results. Although these machines won't generate electricity (they will simply pump water through a flow meter to determine their potential) they will demonstrate whether the technology can work for prolonged periods and in rough conditions.
For Smith, however – a man who could use a welder by the age of eight – the incremental steps between prototype and commercial deployment seem almost an irritation. His vision is already far advanced, and includes using the pressurised saltwater generated by Searaser to produce drinking water, using the same reverse osmosis process used in conventional, energy-hungry desalination plants.
'All you'd have to do is reduce the size of the piston and increase the size of the floats to increase the pressure,' he explains.
He has also put plenty of thought into how he would persuade planners and landowners to allow him to build reservoirs on top of cliffs to provide the energy storage for Searaser.
'The planning will frighten everyone,' he says, 'but if you were trying to produce as much energy from wind turbines, they'd be very visible; a reservoir you'd only see from above.'
Smith has also put thought into how the reservoir could be made as water-tight as possible – vital to avoid saltwater leaching into soils. By double-lining the reservoirs and including an outlet pipe in between the two linings, you would instantly be able to see if the uppermost lining had a puncture by watching the end of the outlet pipe.
'If you saw any water coming out, you'd know you had a leak and you could drain down the reservoir and sort it out,' he says.
Beyond being simply functional, however, Smith believes the reservoirs could be beautiful, providing recreational spaces for watersports or sites for shellfish farmers. 'I bet the birds would love it, too,' he adds.
Although Searaser is clearly a commercial project and Smith hopes to see a return on his patents, he is also keen to see the technology deployed abroad, given that its simplicity lends itself to installation and maintenance in the less-industrialised world.
'It's a modular system: a community could start off with two or three machines, and expand as necessary. It can go round the globe, it really can,' he says.
China and the environment: Red, green - and black
Visiting China a couple of years ago, the American journalist Thomas Friedman conceded that, when it came to climate change, his hosts had a point. Yes, the west had grown rich using dirty old coal and oil, and the Chinese had the right to do the same. "Take your time!" he told a conference in Tianjin. "Because I think my country needs ... five years to invent all the clean power and energy efficiency tools that you, China, will need to avoid choking on pollution and then we are going to come over and sell them ... to you." It took a few moments for his words to be translated and land in delegates' headphones - and for the ripple of consternation to spread around the hall.
Two years on, Mr Friedman's lesson - that clean energy can be profitable rather than a costly drag - has not only been learned by the Chinese; now Beijing is intent on writing the rest of the textbook. Just look at yesterday's Guardian report on China's plans to ramp up wind and solar power, so that they meet 20% of its energy needs by 2020. That is already a big advance in Beijing's goals - and it is poised to go even further. There are reports it will spend up to $600bn on clean power over the next decade - or the equivalent of its entire military budget every year for each of the next 10 years.
Sums like that certainly put western chatter about green new deals in perspective. Indeed, China's 20% goal matches European targets, which EU members such as Britain are struggling to meet. And while Beijing's announcement may put Europe's governments on their mettle, there is more to this clean stimulus than a challenge for environmental leadership. China is dependent on imported fuel, it can see the business opportunities from developing green technology (it is already the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight into electricity) - and Beijing needs to go into this December's negotiations on a successor treaty to Kyoto with something to deflect the charges that it is some kind of climate criminal. Instead, China will be able to cast itself as a green leader.
There is only one snag. Green optimists such as Thomas Friedman yoke energy security with the green agenda; Beijing is effectively decoupling the two. However much it may trumpet its green initiatives, China is still the world's biggest user of coal and the largest emitter of carbon. Neither of those two things look likely to change. Beijing has yet to accept any target for reducing carbon emissions. The US Congress looks as if it will accept only a small one. The two countries that are central to December's negotiations in Copenhagen will be able to show much progress and good faith - but painful, binding targets? Do not bet on it.
Two years on, Mr Friedman's lesson - that clean energy can be profitable rather than a costly drag - has not only been learned by the Chinese; now Beijing is intent on writing the rest of the textbook. Just look at yesterday's Guardian report on China's plans to ramp up wind and solar power, so that they meet 20% of its energy needs by 2020. That is already a big advance in Beijing's goals - and it is poised to go even further. There are reports it will spend up to $600bn on clean power over the next decade - or the equivalent of its entire military budget every year for each of the next 10 years.
Sums like that certainly put western chatter about green new deals in perspective. Indeed, China's 20% goal matches European targets, which EU members such as Britain are struggling to meet. And while Beijing's announcement may put Europe's governments on their mettle, there is more to this clean stimulus than a challenge for environmental leadership. China is dependent on imported fuel, it can see the business opportunities from developing green technology (it is already the world's leading manufacturer of photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight into electricity) - and Beijing needs to go into this December's negotiations on a successor treaty to Kyoto with something to deflect the charges that it is some kind of climate criminal. Instead, China will be able to cast itself as a green leader.
There is only one snag. Green optimists such as Thomas Friedman yoke energy security with the green agenda; Beijing is effectively decoupling the two. However much it may trumpet its green initiatives, China is still the world's biggest user of coal and the largest emitter of carbon. Neither of those two things look likely to change. Beijing has yet to accept any target for reducing carbon emissions. The US Congress looks as if it will accept only a small one. The two countries that are central to December's negotiations in Copenhagen will be able to show much progress and good faith - but painful, binding targets? Do not bet on it.
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