“Same as it ever was” is a phrase that continues to resonate in 2026.

The oil shocks of the 1970s, triggered by conflict in the Middle East, sent global energy prices soaring and exposed the vulnerability of modern economies to fuel supply. They also sparked a global surge of interest in alternative energy.

One particularly intriguing idea at the time came from Stephen Salter, a University of Edinburgh researcher who recognised the enormous amount of energy that is constantly cycled within oceans.

He developed a method of turning wave energy into electricity using a pear-shaped device dubbed the “nodding duck”. Despite its whimsical nickname, Salter’s solution appeared able to efficiently extract a large share of the energy carried in passing waves.

The easing of oil shortages and the politics of energy funding brought an end to Salter’s project and pushed marine energy research out of the spotlight.

Still, work in the field has quietly carried on. The last few decades have seen research and development into approaches that source energy from tides, marine winds – and even from differences in heat and salt at different depths.

At the same time, there has been another fundamental shift since the 1970s: the awareness that burning fossil fuels is warming our climate – and that we urgently need to reduce our dependence on them.

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