The move towards alternative energy is in full bloom across the world. While many countries focus on solar, wind, geothermal or biomass, South Korea is heading in a different and unique direction. It intends to tap its long coastline through tidal power. There was an energy source that never ran out, the energy for each harvest and that you could harvest it twice a day. Would you be interested? You bet you would. Well, the answer is all around the world along coastlines. It is the energy inherent in the tides of the ocean as the gravity tug of war between the Earth and Moon plays out each day.

The energy in the ocean can be subtle, but it is indisputable. Just think about what you saw in the videos of the huge tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004. There is an absolutely huge amount of energy in tides as the flow to and fro. Even better, we can predict how big the tides will be every day and how much energy is in both the incoming and outgoing tides. It makes for a perfect energy platform if we can figure out how to tap it.

Well, the South Koreans obviously feel that they can. This has become clear with the announcement that Korea Western Power Corp will build and operate no less than 20 tidal power plants along the coast of the country. The plants will go up fast with the final one being completed no later than 2014. The total cost? A cool one billion dollars. In short, the South Koreans are getting very serious about tidal energy and this project will make them the biggest tidal energy producers in the world…by far.

Tidal energy gets a minute fraction of the publicity of the other alternative energies. If the South Koreans new technology is successful, that could change very quickly.