Scottish government launches prize to drive innovation in tidal power

An interesting insight here into many things - not least the best way for governments to fund innovation.

The Scottish government have relaunched the £10m Saltire Fund designed to help promote the development of tidal power. This is despite the fact that it its last incarnation, between 2008 and 2017, no-one claimed the prize.

Tidal power is clearly an emerging sector in the low carbon economy, and the use of prizes is an increasingly common way of funding such innovation. It stops the government from having to pick winner, and reduces the opportunity costs of research and development.