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Blue is the New Green: Marine Renewable Energy Hopes to Harness Florida's Tides

A diagram of a proposed marine renewable energy project involving experimental marine turbines.
Image: Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center
A diagram of a proposed marine renewable energy project involving experimental marine turbines.

Clean, renewable energy has been the goal for environmentally-minded energy users, aspiring engineers, and businesses and utilities alike. In Florida, solar power is often touted as the solution to the Sunshine State's energy needs, but a group of researchers and engineers in South Florida think "blue energy" derived from ocean currents like the Gulf Stream has just as big a part to play in renewably powering Florida's future. 

Big enough, they contend, that they've inked a deal with a Southeast Florida utility to advance the project.

Tuesday at 1 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live, Gabriel Alsenas, the program manager with the Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Florida Atlantic University, talks about the center's research and how it's positioned to support various forms of marine renewable energy in Florida.

Also joining the program is SNMREC's chief engineer, Bill Baxley, talking about projects like the marine turbine pilot program that seeks to generate electricity from the Gulf Stream.

Copyright 2020 WGCU. To see more, visit WGCU.

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.