Tidal Energy and the Methods to Harness it
Introduction:
The world is in a crisis. Traditional energy sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas are dwindling at an alarming rate. Governments are struggling to purchase those resources in enough volume to feed their citizens. It is becoming abundantly clear that something needs to be done to meet, and eventually surpass current energy demands. One of the resources that is essentially unlimited is a resource called Tidal Energy. Tidal Energy has been estimated that it can create 2110 terrawatt-hours in the United States (7) alone. That is an astonishing amount of energy.
Tidal Energy: Tidal energy is a form of energy that is formed when water rises and falls due to the gravitational
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Basically this technology is floating spheres at the bottom of the ocean floor that move back and forth with waves, capturing the kinetic energy as it moves and generates electricity. This technology operates all the time and doesn’t totally depend on the time of day to really work. Others are sunk turbines which catch the energy as water flows through them. This technology is probably the fastest growing technology because of the fact that it has no current environmental impacts. These technologies don’t trap silt and are easily avoidable by the local wildlife and merchant ships. Also the material needed to build these tidal farms is much less than it would be to build a wind farm because water us much more dense making it easier for a smaller turbine to catch and change the kinetic energy into power that we can use. (1,2,3,4) There is also a type of technology called a tidal lagoon that companies and governments are looking at utilizing to help produce energy. They function very similar to barrages, except they don’t need an inlet to work. These can be made along the coastlines of islands and countries. They look a lot like little harbors stretching across the coastline. These also don’t even need to be made using artificial building materials, which cuts back on the costs of building them. The process is the same as barrages, the sea rushes in and is held back at high tide. Then at low tide the water is allowed to rush over turbines turning them and generating
In recent years there has been great concern over the growing demand for energy, and the lack of non-renewable energy resources to meet the demand in the future. In addition, the question of “sustainability”—the ability to balance social, economic, and environmental needs in energy production to meet both current and long-term requirements—has come to the fore. It is clear that America must expand energy production quickly, and that we must develop renewable, sustainable energy sources to meet long-term demand and protect our future. There are many proposed solutions, such as wind and solar power. But the technology for these resources is not yet fully developed, making them, at best, low-output alternatives. Because renewable sources are
Have you ever wondering where your electricity comes from? How your car uses gasoline to run? What about how these things impact our environment or how we are going to keep producing them? As a country, we need to start looking ahead to the future and planning for what is to come. Currently, 86% of America’s energy comes from petroleum, natural gas, and coal. All of these resources will run out eventually. We need renewable energy sources that will keep producing in a clean, more efficient way for a long time. Before committing to an idea and going all the way with it, we need to compare all the different energy sources available to the U.S. and choose the one that is best for everyone.
Water turbines are near the oldest ways to run power without using fossil fuels. The new age had turned these into hydro turbines that generally reside in dams. These machines take similar shape to wind turbines. Hidden in the base of a dam, there is a very large turbine that, in a simple explanation, when water runs through it spins. With the energy used by the spinning turbo it is turned into different power sources that are stored into power cells. Way back in time, this idea was used in power mills. Those old spinning wheels on the side of houses that rotate with water pressure. The first power plant was constructed in 1879 at Niagara Falls, Canada. In the United States the first plant was in 1882 in Wisconsin. These extravagant machines seemed marvelous, but that is no longer the outcome. The current age hydroelectricity dams are currently being shut down for harmful aspects triggered from the giant production. Causing an environmental failure to marine life and habitats all around. The possible outcomes are: changing the oxygen levels in the water that cause organisms to perish; fluctuating water levels that cause different
It has recently come to light that Glasgow and the West of Scotland have been using a great deal of our earth’s precious finite resources. To combat this we must take advantage of our valuable surroundings and look for long term replacements such as solar, wind and tidal power as well as geothermal and hydroelectric sources. In the interest of our planets wellbeing and our country’s economy, the engineers at SECC have created the following report. Our aim is to help you realise the potential of these alternative sources and push for them to replace the power plants burning through our finite resources.
2. tidal currents that pass through narrow channels can be used to turn underwater pivoting turbines, which produce energy. potential for usable tidal energy increases with an increase in tidal range because a higher tidal range means more water moving in and out of the turbine system.
The wind turbines are made and created from a local power plant in Valeria and it helps create kinetic and solar energy. The Wind Power is sustainable because wind turbines are a conversion to kinetic energy and the wind is mechanical power. But the
Wind turbines are another common way to power things. They are usually made to power a city and many are needed for a lot of energy to be created at once. Wind turbines are made to be very tall because that the higher up you go, the windier it gets.
How astounding that by creating turbines, we are able to harness that much electricity. Creating jobs for thousands of workers and their families. Now what about solar? The Sun has been around since the beginning of humanity and how foolish of us not to use more of it’s natural rays. Consider harnessing the sun’s power to make electricity.
In conditions when both technologies and our needs require more and more energy, it is impossible to count only on natural resources and to think that their reserves are unlimited. This is not true. We have learned to receive electricity from irreplaceable resources – oil, gas, also from replenished - water, wind, sun. But the energy of the sun or wind is not enough for today’s rythm of our civilization. And hydroelectric and thermal power plants are not as clean and economical for the modern rhythm
“Tidal power generates energy from the tides moving in and out…wave power generates energy from the rise and fall of waves.” (Cunningham.) Capturing the ocean’s movement is a great form of renewable energy with waves never running out and that they are available in many areas of the world. There will be no byproducts that will be harmful or will pollute the environment, and to receive the energy there can be many different gathering techniques. In retrospect towards marine growth, submerged wave energy converters will make “safe havens” because they will become artificial reefs with a closed off surface areas. “They insist that if all 28,000 miles of U. S. roadways are covered in these solar cells, it would generate three times more power…” (Cunningham). The hexagonal solar panels would be able to make more productive areas such as a solar parking lot, additionally paying for themselves and power other homes or businesses. In order to improve the safety of every community, there would be heating elements to keep roads snow/ice free, and LEDs to make road lines. There is little maintenance to ensure that the solar panels are in working order, and they are a silent producer of energy. When compared to burning fossil fuels in power stations, solar energy stands out by the fact that it saves money and gives energy security in households. “Human waste is taken to a treatment plant…methanogens go to work…methane is produced as a byproduct.” (Cunningham). Currently, over 200 millions tons of human waste go untreated, and once they get into the clean water, many die from diseases in contact with the fecal matter. When methane is burned as electricity, there would be a decrease in treating water and disposing
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
Tidal, a place where you could legally listen to Kanye's new album, is making huge news in the internet. In its first year anniversary, the music streaming service claims to passed a whopping three million paid subscribers globally, adding about 2.5 million subs to the approximately 540,000 it had when it launched in the U.S.
One resource that is essential to produce electricity is renewable energy. Providing one’s own energy consists of utilizing solar panels, wind turbines and micro hydroelectricity. Solar panels absorb energy from the Sun to produce solar energy. A great number of people who live off the grid use solar power. Wind turbines generate electrical power from the wind and functions in the reverse manner as a fan does. Micro hydroelectricity is another source of energy, which fascinatingly “uses a source of running water, like a stream, to generate electricity” (Dunn 3). Between all three sources of renewable energy, micro hydroelectricity is the most efficient, reliable and commonly used form.
Offshore wind power has become a need of the hour in renewable energy production due to the rising prices of oil and continually increasing demand for a separate energy sector. Offshore wind has the prospective to deliver at least four times the current U.S. demand of energy, as per mentioned by the Global Wind Energy Council. However, there are many challenges and advantages that are significant for us to comprehend.