Stronger financial support for wave and tidal power could bring the promising new source of renewable energy to commercial scale in the next three years, industry experts said yesterday at the Annual Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference.

Marine hydrokinetic energy -- created by buoys and turbines installed in oceans and rivers to harness their natural ebbs and flows -- is a reliable source of renewable power, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters at the conference yesterday.

But renewable marine energy has received the "short end of the stick" in terms of federal incentives to help the industry grow, she said.

Following the unanimous passage of a fiscal 2013 energy and water spending bill by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development yesterday, however, the sector stands to receive $44 million in federal dollars, a $10 million boost over last year.

Industry leaders welcomed the Senate's show of support with a round of applause.

The Department of Energy estimates that waves and tidal currents could produce a maximum of approximately 1,420 terawatt-hours in electric generation per year, or about one-third of the nation's total annual electricity usage.

"We believe that water power as a portfolio can provide 15 percent of our [nation's] energy by 2030," said Jose Zayas, DOE's wind and water power program manager.

Two recent government assessments of wave and tidal current potential in the United States found that wave power could produce up to 400 gigawatts of capacity and tidal could produce 50 GW, according to Zayas. Harnessing only a fraction of that potential would make a significant contribution to the 2030 goal, he said.

Stop overpromising and underdelivering

The marine energy industry currently sits on the cusp of broader expansion. Numerous types of both shallow-water and deepwater projects have survived testing in the corrosive saltwater off the coast of the United States, Australia and Scotland. New York-based Verdant Power also received the first U.S. commercial license to build a tidal power facility in New York City's East River earlier this year.

The industry could reach commercial deployment by 2015 and scale up through 2020, said Mark McAdam, CEO of the Scottish wave energy company Aquamarine Power. But to stop "overpromising and underdelivering," the industry currently needs "big investors."

"Yes, the investment capital is getting tougher to find. Yes, natural gas prices are continuing to fall. And yes, we still don't have an efficient permitting and review system in place to cut through the red tape and get projects up quickly," said Murkowski, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

But, she added, she's cautiously optimistic that support for the marine energy industry will persist.

The global economic recession is subsiding and could free up some investment dollars, said Murkowski. Economic growth in Asia also looks to keep oil prices high, and the unusually mild temperatures this year are likely to "push the conversation about the need for CO2 limitation," she said.

Place the combination of these circumstances against a backdrop of $100 or more per barrel of oil, and "I think the push for truly renewable energy sources is only going to continue," said Murkowski.