Faculty of Science

 

The Acadia University community is celebrating a Century of Bay of Fundy tidal energy research by honoring early pioneers in tidal power development and those who have devoted their careers to addressing the environmental implications and effects of harnessing tidal energy. A series of activities, celebrating both historic and current research efforts, will mark this significant milestone.

 

Tidal power history

The year 2010 is the centennial of Turnbull’s original proposal for generating electrical energy from the tides in the Bay of Fundy. Since then, there have been four major and numerous minor proposals for large scale tidal power development in the Bay. These have resulted in research activity in the Bay in every decade of the 20th century. It is arguable that most of what we know about the Bay of Fundy ecosystem has resulted from the dreams of harnessing its energy. The dream was shared by Acadia engineering professor Ralph Clarkson, who created in 1915 a novel tidal power plan to harness the Bay’s tidal energy. He designed a prototype tidal power generator with his sights on the Minas Channel at Cape Split. In 1916, Clarkson and others, including Acadia University President George Cutten, formed the Cape Split Development Company to further their tidal power vision. Unlike those before him, Clarkson designed, built and tested his motor successfully and had apparently planned out the installation details, including the means to retime the power (using pumped storage), which is one of the major challenges in harnessing renewable energy.

Sketch of Clarkson’s conception of the Cape Split project, 1915-1916.

Courtesy of the Acadia University Archives.

 

 

 

 

Almost 60 years passed before Nova Scotia gave serious consideration to the potential for tidal power development in the Upper Bay of Fundy and established the Fundy Environmental Science Committee to investigate the implications of barrage-style tidal power development. Less than a decade later, in 1984, the first and only tidal power plant in North America was installed in the causeway at Annapolis Royal. Acadia faculty played significant roles in addressing environmental impacts in both projects and subsequently established the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (ACER). It has played a leading role in ecological research on the Bay of Fundy, including studies on the environmental implications and effects of harnessing tidal power. Over the last four decades, Acadia students and faculty have been engaged in a wide range of research on the Bay – from investigations of mudflat stability and animal-sediment relationships to studies of salt marshes, fish, birds, and mammals.

 

Tidal power research today

Acadia remains focused on tidal power research and in recent months received two grants from the OEER (Offshore Energy Environmental Research) and OETR (Offshore Energy Technical Research) Associations, totaling $342,000 of the $1.1 million awarded. These projects will involve an assessment of the amount of tidal energy that can be harnessed, the movement and behavior of various fish species near the tidal turbine demonstration facility, and the determination of the risk of sediment-laden ice (the size of Volkswagen beetles) and large wood debris to negatively interact with tidal turbine infrastructure in the Minas Passage. Acadia researchers are also running test simulations and modeling tidal energy resources on high-end clusters of computers. In addition, faculty members have been invited to lend their expertise to a number of other OEER/OETR funded tidal power studies, including projects awarded to scientists at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography and other universities in Nova Scotia.

 

Events and Activities

During the current year, Acadia will be celebrating a century of research on the Bay of Fundy with a series of special events and activities including:

• A lecture series focused on the history of tidal power proposals and developments in the Bay of Fundy and elsewhere;

• A tidal power debate;

• Tidal power research seminars, films and displays;

• A celebratory event in honor of the 25th Anniversary of Acadia’s Centre for Estuarine Research, recognizing past and present activities with current and former research partners and collaborators.

The first event of 2010 will be a spirited tidal power debate involving faculty and students, to be held on 31 March (7-9 pm) in the KC Irving Environmental Science Centre. All events will be open to the public.