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| Ireland has opportunity to lead world in ocean energy |
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| Written by Administrator | |||
| Tuesday, 09 September 2008 12:44 | |||
 Ireland is looking at a "once in a generation opportunity" to take a global lead in the field of ocean energy according to the US Ambassador to Ireland Thomas C. Foley. Speaking to the Irish Marine Institute in Galway recently Ambassador Foley said that now was the time to, "take advantage of an exceptional opportunity that all the money in the world and brilliant policy making couldn't create own their own." He continued; "I see a technological clustering opportunity in Ireland around ocean energy. Ireland has probably the best 'natural market' in the world for developing ocean energy potential. Ireland's natural advantage means that all other things being equal, it has an economic advantage over competitors. This is like having a horse at the track with a 300 meter advantage at the start – it's your race to lose. Ambassador Foley drew an analogy with Finland's 'natural market' advantage in the development of mobile phones. As most of Finland wasn't hardwired for telephones, he explained, so when early mobile phone technology developed, there was high and immediate demand for the product in Finland. Equally, Finland also happened to have the human resources available as a result of GE, ASEA, and Siemens having electronic research operations there. The human capital that developed mobile phone technology in Finland was hired away from these companies or left on its own to join in the development of mobile phone technology. The result, he said, was Nokia - the rest of the story is well-known. "There is a Nokia opportunity here in Ireland", said Foley. "Because of its latitude, weather, location in the Atlantic, and current sources of electrical power being high cost and fossil fuel based, Ireland has both high potential from ocean energy sources and high immediate demand. It also has the human capital available to support its development. No one else I am aware of has all these advantages. In addition, taking advantage of this opportunity is a perfect fit with Ireland's plan to keep 'trading-up' the value-added curve to maintain its enviable growth over the last 15 years. It is also an opportunity to start a 'Domestic Industry' that could serve the world."
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 September 2008 12:49 |