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Hydro Energy - To Flow With The Tides
Water (Hydro) has two very interesting properties. It being a fluid can carry energy as both heat and as kinetic energy. It also has capacity to do work if its potential energy can be effectively used.
The kinetic energy of water flow has been used for electrical power generation for over several decades. There are quite a few hydro-electric power stations in operation. Man made structures such as dams built across rivers serve dual purpose of storage and power generation. Initial installation and construction costs and maintenance costs are offset by its utilization for irrigation, water supply and power generation. Only where there is perennial water supply such as rivers and reservoirs fed by the seasonal rain and snow can be effectively used for this purpose. In the last few years due to drastic climatic changes in several countries, there are draught conditions that have made many of these power-stations non-functional or dependent on fossil fuel for their operation.
The other form of kinetic energy from water is the tidal power.
Turbines
built on the ocean bed can be used to generate electricity. There are a few
such generators around the world which uses existing strong ebb and flow of the
tides.
Some UK based companies have strong links with the University of Wales
Swansea. Over the last 30 years the University of Wales Swansea has been at the
forefront of international research in the area of computational engineering.
World leading engineers at Swansea have developed numerical techniques, such as
the finite element method, and associated computational procedures that have
enabled many complex engineering problems to be solved.
A tradition of research into propeller turbines in both air and water has given
rise to expertise in this area. Successful civil engineering and marine biology
departments also contribute to the relevant skills.
The other form of kinetic energy is the surf or waves. But this is not so regulated and adaptation for turning the turbine is difficult. A few stations have been built which utilizes this energy in a clever way. One is to adapt a blow-hole which pushes the air periodically as the water fills a enclosed chamber with in-coming wave. The other adaptation is the driving of a piston on the ocean bed when the wave passes the surface.
OTEC technology (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) has been long explored and found effective in certain locations where there is sufficient temperature gradient between surface waters and deep-sea waters. For a in-depth write-up on this visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_thermal_energy_conversion .The technology is especially attractive since desalinated water can be obtained as a by-product. The most successful installation of this is off Hawaii coast at Keahole Point at Kona.
- Hydro orders continue
- Plutonic Power's Hydro-Electric Ambitions - Video presentation; CNBC's Geoff Cutmore talks with Paul Sweeney, executive vice president at Plutonic Power Corporation, about the alternative energy market.
- Wave power generators - MSNBC report
- Tidal power now is harvested using new under water turbines which can generate electricity sufficient to power a small local community. The prototypes have been tested off Gold Coast where there is a steady current due to the tides. Watch the news clip.
- New harness for harvesting the wave energy at New York city. An NJIT architecture professor with an architecture student has designed a network of modular floating docks to harness clean energy for New York City.
'Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind' - Albert Einstein
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