This video goes into Tidal Energy's method of harvesting energy in the ocean. It should be said that the video is a promotional clip for Tidal Energy (the company, not tidal energy as a whole) so the trustworthiness of the video may go down a few notches. However, I found a lot of the information in this video to be pretty entertaining.
To sum up the video, Tidal Energy presents the advantages of their method of harnessing the ocean's underwater currents to generate electricity. They state that the ocean's current is renewable and sustainable, and their machines do not harm the underwater environment. One very interesting point to me is the fact that sea water is much denser (832 times denser) than air. This makes a great point for the implementation of tidal energy on the ocean floor. An ocean current is very reliable and will most always be in motion (unlike wind). Also, a little flowing sea water is equal to a much greater amount of flowing wind. The video does not belittle wind power, but I just found it easier to appreciate the facts about tidal energy when it was compared to another source of energy. One large advantage of using the Davidson Hill Vanturis turbines is the fact that they are completely underwater. This way, there is no defacement of an ocean scene as ell the equipment is out of sight. This opens up a lot of doors for Tidal Energy as they would most likely meet minimal opposition whenever they would want to install their turbines in a new location.
The Davidson Hill Vanturis is said to be the most efficient and environmentally safe underwater turbine on the market. It can be used in a variety of environments that include oceans, rivers and streams. The turbines can be directly inserted into the grid to supply electricity as a primary source, or lessen the burden of other energy sources to provide electric power to the public.
Yea although the whole idea sounds good, I think some propaganda is at work here. They are talking about all the positive aspects and leaving out the possibly negative ones. Underwater maintenance and building the technologies themselves are probably pretty pricey. I wonder if that may be the reason along with some others that makes hydro powerplants not as widely used.
ReplyDeleteI knew that this was a possibility, but in my head never pictured a system that looked quite like that. I think that it is a great idea that could be used to great potential and on huge scales. That is, of course, if all the facts presented in this video are true. I am curious as to how difficult it would be to install these in deep waters and where the energy would be stored/transferred to. And although these are out of sight i wonder if they would have nay impact on the aquatic life, because someone always seems to have some sort of environmental complaint about technology like this
ReplyDeleteI agree with Seth on this one. I feel like their installation could be a potential problem, as well as the who killing exotic fish/aquatic creatures issue. Also, the issue of transmission isn't discussed at all in the video. How do they plan of storing and/or transporting the energy harvested from such depths? This tidal technology could very well work in shallow waters, but when they start talking about deep waters, everything seems to get quite complicated.
ReplyDeleteI agree with William, we just got one side of the story. I think the negative aspects are completely hidden in this video. After doing a bit of research it turns out that they are quite a few cons. As a website states that the presence of the rotating turbines will affect the marine life, and there are limited spots to put the turbines because we have to have a large amount of energy produced, for it to be worth while.
ReplyDeleteCheck out these websites for more information.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tidal-energy-pros-and-cons.html
http://www.bionomicfuel.com/tidal-power-pros-and-cons-comparing-to-other-sources-of-energy/