Britney
2015/12/16
Tidal Energy
Tidal Energy
Introduction
“‘Climate change’ refers to any long-term change in Earth's climate, or in the climate of a region or city. This includes warming, cooling and changes besides temperature.” (NASA Oct.2011) Earth is going through the climate change of global warming. Climate change is causing a big threat that would cause great catastrophe to the world and this problem will influence everyone around the world. These changes are caused by the greenhouse gases which are produced when burning fossil fuels and transportation. When fossil fuels are burned, they generate a fair amount of energy for people, but at the same time, produce large amounts of pollution that damages our Earth. To slow down climate change, we need to start making changes and shift our sole energy source from burning fossil fuels to an alternative renewable energy source. While tidal energy is an interesting technology and is capable of providing us a carbon-free society, but it can never generate enough energy to reduce the burning of fossil fuels because of the massive cost for the project and there is limited places in the world to install the technology.
What is
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Tidal energy is converted based on the movements of tides. Tidal power is the result of Earth’s rotation combined with the sun and moon’s gravity. The tides come mostly from the Moon’s gravity and a little from the Sun’s gravity. So as the Earth rotates, the ocean surface rises and falls. Compared to nuclear reserves or fossil fuels, the resource of tidal energy will not run out or end unless the sun and moon does. Usually, there are two high tides and two low tides each day. With all the water moving up and down, we can capture the kinetic energy from the tides. It works just like wind turbine except ocean tides turn the blades instead of wind. (Climate Kids,
Climate change is a serious threat that has dramatic effects on the world ranging from melting glaciers to disappearing islands. Climate change has seen a drastic change since the period of rapid industrial growth for humanity due to the higher reliance on fossil fuels in order power the technologies that were developed such as cars and factories which created harmful gasses which had minimal effects in the beginning but later began to have major effects on environments around the world. Although climate change is denied and questioned that it even exists by many people today, including president elect Donald Trump and a significant portion of the scientific community, scientific evidence shows that it does in fact exist and is a serious threat
Global warming and climate change is one of the most pressing issues in the contemporary society given its continued impacts on human life and the world’s ecosystem. The considerable effects of this issue have raised huge concerns among policymakers, governments, and the public. As a result, various initiatives have been developed in attempts to lessen global warming or climate change, especially those related to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases to the Earth’s atmosphere. Governments across the globe including the United Kingdom government have adopted various policies that focus on dealing with the issue. There are various policies that help in dealing with the issue including lessening greenhouse gases emissions, adapting to the effects of climate change, and geo-engineering of the climate system. The attempts by the UK government to address this problem require an understanding of the increasing energy demands and its future impact and use of suitable renewable energy sources.
One of the effects with the most impact from the use of fossil fuels is the pollution created. The United States, per the study conducted by WorldBank, is recorded as being the 10th largest contributor of carbon dioxide in the world per capita. In one year producing 17.6 metric tons, another unfathomable amount (Table). In order to dramatically cut this amount of pollutants down, another source of energy must be utilized. Today, there are many potential options available. Three of the most promising are wind, solar, and tidal energy. Solar is energy obtained from the sun, wind is energy generated by spinning
On the same note, the energy revolution spoken of above brings forth another advance in the ongoing global climate situation. The nature of the Kyoto Protocol calls for nations to increase research and eventually semi-convert their energy usage to accommodate for cleaner energy. Products such as solar power, wind power, biomass, geothermal power, and hydropower are now widely being studying to create processes that use less coal, oil, and natural gas in production. Altogether the results have
Climate change is an issue that has plagued the minds of humans for centuries. The issue goes back as far as the ancient Greeks, who thought that cutting down forests could lead to more rain. We have always been preoccupied with the topic, and now finally we have evidence that it is in fact happening. We have to work towards lessening the effects that climate change has on our society and combat the reluctance of our government to change our nation’s methods of getting energy. In, “A Climate Repair Manual,” by Gary Stix, he urges Americans to change their ways and use more renewable sources of energy.
Global warming is the steady heating of Earth’s land, oceans, and atmosphere caused primarily by human activity. Climate change is one of the world’s biggest challenges right now, from people actively arguing that it doesn’t exist- to other’s who don’t care enough to do anything about it. There’s evidence showing that climate change is happening and affecting our world now and from what it seems, if action isn’t taken, major consequences will soon arise. Most of the world’s land mass has experienced a 0.2-1.0 degree Celsius average temperature increase since the 1970s, the temperatures of the Artic has increased at almost twice the mean global rate. Climate change is caused by human factors such as greenhouse gases and ozone depletion and because humans are so dependent on fossil fuels in their day to day lives, the issue at hand is only going to get worse.
Coastal areas in Canada are able generate approximately 37,000 MW (megawatts) or more electricity annually. They are able to do this by harvesting the tidal waves and using devices such as tidal turbines,tidal barrages or tidal fences. These are a variety of methods which allow us to utilize this renewable form of energy with efficiency. Coastal areas harnesses energy when a tidal current or an ocean wave has a vertical or horizontal motion that occurs on one of the tidal devices, which are turbines that can spin. As the turbine spins it produces energy into a generator that's attached to itself, and then the generator converts most of the energy into electricity.The potential gravitational energy caused by the moon, sun and rotation of the earth allow tides to be more frequent and harness a greater amount of energy. This gravitational energy also causes low tides or high tides to occur, which influences the rate in which the water flows into the turbine.
This is why tidal energy generation would be much more efficient than hydroelectricity energy generation in Nova Scotia because there are not many strong flowing rivers. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) located in California stated that the Bay of Fundy had potential to be the best site in North America for tidal energy generation. I believe that Nova Scotia should take advantage of these tides and use them as an important resource for our province. After the costs of the infrastructure and maintenance, tidal energy generation would be essentially free, as the tides move on their own. A lot of energy can be created through tides, as tidal power is very sensitive to speed. The amount of energy formed is the cube of the speed of the water. For example, if the speed of the flowing water doubles, the energy output is eight times greater. This energy can be formed from both the change in the height of tides, which is potential energy, and the flow of the water, which is kinetic energy.. As of now, the main technologies used are in-stream devices, barrages, and tidal lagoons. I think the best solution for Nova Scotia right now would be to build a tidal lagoon in the bay of Fundy. A tidal lagoon is like a barrage (which is essentially a dam built across the whole estuary) but it can be built as a self contained structure. This makes the cost much lower and they can also continuously generate, unlike a
Everyday in U.S., immense amount of fossil fuel is burned. Fossil fuels are fuel formed by natural processes, such as decomposition of buried dead organisms. Fossil fuel release carbon dioxide when they are burned which adds to the greenhouse effect and increases global warming. The way we can help the environment and reduce the amount of carbon dioxide is by replaying fossil fuels with solar and wind sources for electric power generations in the U.S.
Similar to wind power, tidal power is careful to be a possible foundation of renewable energy since tides are stable and foreseeable. Much similar windmills, tide mills have been castoff since the days of Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages. Incoming water was kept in large ponds, and as the tides went out, they twisted waterwheels that produced mechanical power to mill grain.
With the use of a literature review, this paper will attempt to uncover tidal energy’s potential in terms of a viable renewable energy. From the literature review, a methodology, aim, research question and objectives will be set in order to achieve the answer.
In the world today, we consume ungodly amounts of fossil fuels. Many choose to ignore that we will indeed run out of these fuels, as for now they are here and they are cheap. So what happens when they run out? We will need to rely on alternative forms of energy. There are several types of alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, solar, and tidal. Of these in the current day, the easiest one to predict is tidal power. Tidal power, in Tom Marsik’s words, is in its “infant stage of development.” Tom Marsik is a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus who runs the Sustainable Energy Program and has a doctorate in physics. From his description, it is not cost effective for many places in its current state. The technology is there, but it has not been refined and mastered. All this considered, tidal power should be a technology that continues to be developed because it is predictable, renewable, and highly efficient.
Tidal power is a form of energy which derives directly from the relative motions of the Earth/Moon system, and to a lesser extent from the Earth/Sol system.
Wave and tidal energy harnessing are becoming a new viable potential form of alternative energy. New innovations with increasing advancements in technology are rapidly changing the course in the production of a clean, pollution free, and efficient use of energy through the consumption of the one of the world’s largest natural resource, the ocean.
Wave and tide energy are energy harvested from the movement of tides, the rising of waves and the temperature of the ocean water. Each of these energy stores are a renewable energy currently making its grand entrance to the world. Tidal energy has several methods in which it can be harnessed, as with wave energy as well. To begin, tidal energy can be harnessed far out to sea or near the shore. The popular method of underwater turbines to harness wave power are currently undergoing rigorous testing. In addition to these turbines there are methods than involve directing water towards a specific location and damning as well, however these methods cause much more impact to the surrounding environment. In