Sussex MP Des Turner will today press Commons colleagues to back a switch from nuclear to wave power.

The county's coast is famous for its shoreline of rocky cliffs and many piers, but there could soon be a new attraction on the horizon - a tidal turbine farm.

Supplies of fossil fuels are running out and a new source of energy is vital. Without it, it is predicted the world will come to a screeching halt in 2040.

The Government has given the go-ahead in principle for 18 offshore wind farms to be developed around the UK.

One of those could be located off Sussex.

Today, MPs will debate a report from the Science and Technology Select Committee into the potential of producing energy from wave and tidal power.

Brighton Kemp Town MP Dr Turner will be calling for support to harness tidal power.

He said: "Wave and tidal power is totally safe, totally clean, and absolutely sustainable. It also has fantastic export potential.

"It's a golden opportunity and the timing is right to do it now. If we miss the boat this time, other people will get on board."

Dr Turner said there were overwhelming reasons for exploiting our most basic natural resources.

He said: "Our fossil fuels are running out. We have a high degree of need to reduce CO2 output. We also want to minimise pollution.

"We need to get right away from nuclear power, which leads to all sorts of environmental consequences for future generations."

He said Britain's geographical location was its best asset.

"The potential of our exploitable energy is enormous. We could produce sufficient electrical energy to satisfy the country's entire needs.

"That potential is also very predictable because weather forecasting can tell us pretty accurately what type of waves we will get. Tidal streams are totally predictable and operate like clockwork.

"They could be used precisely to deliver a baseline power load in the manner nuclear power stations do.

"Our North Sea oil industry means we have a great deal of engineering expertise to cope with the rigours of the marine environment."

He said wave and tidal energy sources would also mean new jobs.

"The nuclear lobby says new stations would create 10,000 jobs. But we have the prospect of 50,000 jobs."

Dr Turner said he believed the only visible sign of the turbines above sea level would be a buoy.

"If we move with impetus now, I believe we could have tidal turbines operating within five years."

The most likely sites for an offshore turbine farm are Selsey Bill in West Sussex and at Dungeness, near the Kent/Sussex border.

Ideally, farms would be located close to existing National Grid connection points.

Steve Mitchell, lecturer in civil engineering hydraulics at the University of Brighton, said tidal stream turbines would be the most likely option to be sited off the Sussex coast.

"We have particularly high tidal range along the South coast, which means the speed at which the water moves is quite high.

"Tidal stream turbines are attached to the sea bed and sit largely beneath the level of the water.

"The only part that would be visible is the gantry or maintenance platform, which would sit five to six meters above sea level.

"These are less obtrusive and would have less of a visual impact but they would still be visible.

"And if you are building anything in the sea, it is always easier and cheaper to build in shallow water than further out.

"I'm sure there are people who would object. The whole issue will need to be handled very carefully.

"If we throw our energy into the development of wave and tidal power, the prize is immense and well worth having: Clean, predictable energy and a new manufacturing industry with enormous export potential.

"It could create thousands of jobs and last for at least 50 years, or the foreseeable future. We cannot afford to miss that opportunity."