Is lack of investment the only challenge holding back wave and tidal energy?
I believe the answer is yes, insufficient investment is a barrier to deployment of this renewable energy form. Howver, I would suggest the lack of investment arises for two main reasons: First, there is a general reluctance to invest in renewables because of the relatively low cost of energy from traditional sources. Secondly, I would argue that wind, solar thermal and solar PV are either technologies that have benefited from significant research and development (wind and solar thermal) or are fairly simple to understand and deploy (solar thermal and PV). In the case of wind, while there are are risky, interresting developments going on, most would accept that 3 blade turbines are the current state of the art and represent a fairly well known quantity. Tidal on the otherhand can potentially be delivered using a range of interesting or frankly bizarre technologies (snakes, ducks, turbines etc) and/or requires significant change to local eco-systems which may have permanent and potential
