What share of the energy needs could Marine Energy sustainably supply?
Marine processes that can be used to produce energy are numerous. In this present inventory one considers only those having reached the stage of successful experiments at sea using already-developed technology at a scale showing extrapolation is feasible up to production plants of several MW, and with production costs consided economically acceptable in the (more or less) long term. The criteria for their economic acceptabilty one referred to in this paper are all the more imprecise in that the evolution of the energy costs 20 to 50 years in the future is very doubtful. It depends not only on fuel prices but also on changes in the cost structure itself with introduction of new taxes and costs which are presently externalised The natural phenomena and conversion processes considered here are : • Tide: associated with technology such as that developed for La Rance or that of tidal currents (similar to underwater windmills ) • Offshore Wind: associated with Windmill technology • Wave: ass
