The leading pioneer of wave energy is to receive an honorary degree today (Monday June 25).

Professor Stephen Salter, who invented a system for converting wave movement into electricity, will pick up his degree from the University of Edinburgh, where he is based.

The Salter duck system, named after him, was invented in 1977.

It bobs up and down with the waves and is still the most efficient wave power device ever invented.

It absorbs 90% of the energy from the waves it bobs on, leaving a calm sea behind.

The nodding motion of the Duck operates pistons, which compress hydraulic oil. Pressurised oil is then released through a hydraulic motor to generate electricity, converting 90% of the captured power.


Despite the Duck's amazing efficiency and costs of close to 3.3p/kWh, funding was pulled in the 1980s.

Professor Salter told The Engineer magazine in 2007 that he felt this was a political decision, as the grant-giving board was heavy on representatives from the nuclear industry.

He said: "They basically killed the project because it was going to threaten the expansion of the nuclear industry."

But he has not given up on the Duck yet and plans long-term to install lines of the devices through the North Sea around Scotland and all the way to the Faroe Islands.

He said: "You could run continents on this sort of power."

The South African started out as an instrumentation engineer and originally moved to Edinburgh to work in the School of Artificial Intelligence.

Now a veteran of the renewable energy sector, he was awarded an MBE in 2004.

(NE)