Harnessing Tidal Power

[Harris59]

Ocean has huge energy which needs to be harnessed properly for its usage. Tidal power is the most predictable and reliable source, that is based on tried & tested principles of hydrodynamics and electrical engineering. Tides occur reliably and predictably, irrespective of weather changes. Ocean power energy can be created using tides and ocean current.

 

Tides help in production of tidal energy through tidal dams and tidal turbines. In case of tidal dams, power is created using a barrage at a bay or estuary with large tidal range. Tidal turbines take advantage of fast-flowing ocean currents to create energy. The most prolific tidal turbines are horizontal axis turbines that in many ways are analogous to wind turbines. The main difference is size. Tidal turbines generating 1 MW of power can be up to one-third the size of a wind turbine with a similar generating capacity.

 

Ocean current also holds a great amount of strength and energy. The total power of waves breaking around the world's coastlines is estimated at 2-3 million megawatts, which can be captured directly from surface waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface.

Edited May 6, 2010 by swansont
link removed

[skyhook]

This requires damming up the bay or river. Rivers have a natural eco-system. I think my fishing will be affected. The fishes can't get up the river. River systems and bays are the nurseries of fish stocks. Many ocean fish started their lives at the estuaries and rivers, slowly moving into the sea.

 

Rivers are also dammed to convert into freshwater reservoirs to supply urban towns. My dad used to do shrimp casting at the estuarine, and crab hunting. There are really many beautiful fishes, and weird little creatures. But the government likes filling swamps.

[ewmon]

My rebuttal to this Green Ignorance is that,

 

If it's not alive, it's not renewable.

 

All this supposedly "renewable" energy is only "free", and not renewable. This holds true for wind, water, tidal, OTEC, solar, etc. Hello! These energies are doing something right now. Diverting these energies changes the energy landscape of the world, or part of it. Tidal energy is different from riverine hydroelectric energy. The tides are the washing machines of the oceans. Rob the tides of their energy, and the ocean (or part of it) may turn into a cesspool. My rebuttal is worth repeating here:

 

If it's not alive, it's not renewable.

[swansont]

This requires damming up the bay or river. Rivers have a natural eco-system. I think my fishing will be affected. The fishes can't get up the river. River systems and bays are the nurseries of fish stocks. Many ocean fish started their lives at the estuaries and rivers, slowly moving into the sea.

 

Rivers are also dammed to convert into freshwater reservoirs to supply urban towns. My dad used to do shrimp casting at the estuarine, and crab hunting. There are really many beautiful fishes, and weird little creatures. But the government likes filling swamps.

 

Damming a river is only one type of tidal power generator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power#Categories_of_tidal_power