NEW YORK -- On a recent morning, a crane sank a 16-foot rotor into the waters of the East River and divers swam deep to bolt it to the bottom. By early evening, as the northerly current sped up, the rotor began to spin, a big thunk sounded in the control room, a green light went on, and electricity began to pour into a nearby supermarket.
The scene represents an experiment in tidal power, using turbines that look like underwater windmills, and it is the first of its kind nationwide and one of only a few such pilot projects in the world.
"This is just the beginning of a project, but the project itself is emblematic of a whole new industry," said Trey Taylor, the president of Verdant Power, a small company that created the experiment and hopes to expand it to commercial use with 300 turbines in the East River that could power up to 10,000 homes in the city. Engineers, policymakers and energy experts say projects like the East River tidal turbines are already placing this city at the urban vanguard of energy production. They say New York City is uniquely positioned to advance sustainable energy projects because of the city's enormous need for power, its high electricity costs, and the pressure for new sources created by its unusual rule that 80 percent of energy must be generated within the city.
Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/19/AR2008091903729.html