One of the Holy Grails of green power is hydroelectricity, and we've certainly seen our
fair share of
research in that department. The newest guy on the scene is called Oyster, a collaborative effort between Queen's University in Belfast and Aquamarine Power Limited that sees something called an Oscillating Wave Surge Converter placed offshore (in depths around 10-12 meters). When moved by waves, the device's double acting pistons push seawater ashore via high pressure flow lines, where it is converted to power using tried and true hydroelectric generators. Since the hydroelectric plant is located onshore, it is accessible for maintenance 24-7. According to the company, peak power should be around 300-600 kw, depending on the unit's configuration and location. The first prototype is to be deployed off the coast of Orkney this summer, where we'll see if it can transform high tides and abnormal weather patterns into juice for your Xbox. One more pic for you after the break.
[Via
Renewable Energy World]
posted March 9th 2009 10:49AM
Man, it's a shame usernames chosen here aren't unique. He gives me and others with the same first name a bad name.
... and I can't even prove I'm not the one above.
The sun radiates 174,423,000,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy to the earth per hour.
I would think that cold-fusion would be the holy grail of green power.....
At the 2nd James, I'm pretty sure the 1st James is not the first one to muddy your collective name.
This better not go in my surf spots!
Solar is awesome... if only the creation of panels didn't include toxic components, and if only we didn't have to cover half of Texas to power the country. And what about the ecological ramifications of covering vast amounts of land with solar panels? The solar energy is not wasted in nature, but is converted into heat, food, and other forms of energy. Converting that energy on a massive scale would affect weather, local ecosystems, and who knows what else. The fact is that no source of energy can be found that has no effect on the environment.
I'm firmly in the camp of pro-nuclear, those who say technology is antiquated isn't realizing that it's not just phones that have advanced over the past 50 years (and even 50 years ago the tech was impressive... all the disasters we hear about were from plants not following the proper regulations already in place). Within the next 10 years (or less) we'll see nuclear plants that can destroy nuclear waste as part of the process... so says my MIT Ph.D buddy currently finishing his thesis in nuclear engineering. (Disagree? Do YOU have a Ph.D in nuclear engineering/physics? Or is there some other impressive reason I should listen to you instead of the experts?)
It would be stupid to put all our 'eggs' in one basket, having all types of energy sources is the smartest bet, fueling the capitalistic desires to develop and innovate. Blindly refusing any form of energy is foolish.
@ required: the sun didn't envision life on earth creating auto mobiles, electricity and all our other power hungry delights.
Wonderboy, about 1 to 2 per cent of the energy coming from the sun is converted into wind energy (which by the way is about 50 to 100 times more than the energy converted into biomass by all plants on earth). In other words, it's not all about panels. There are many different ways of harnessing the power our sun sends.
Samboini, what are you talking about? Fact is the sun sends a lot more energy than we as a species currently use.
It is true the first James is the newest of the three James shown above my post... you can see by hovering over the James names that the profile ID is different... so you can prove you are not the same James, but indeed, you could be the same human being with two usernames of James I believe...
An interesting device, but we'll have to see if it works as anticipated.
I think they need to change the name to Oyster Wave Inversion Energy - OWIE!
:-)
@required
How misinformed and unwillingly ingnorant you are. Nuclear comes in many different designs, there some are cannot overheat and melt down. Even when all cooling towers have been shut down.
I doubt this device will ever produce more energy than is required to built, maintain and scrap it.
>The sun radiates 174,423,000,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy to the earth per hour.
USA -> 2005
3.816 trillion kWh of electricity
20.8 million bbl/day of oil
604 billion cu m of natural gas
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications...
the sun is to small to save you.
This thing has no hope. You should have a look at CETO if you want a true solution to power generation from wave power.