ORPC is a company based in Portland Maine that makes turbines for ocean and river applications. The company is currently working with a remote village in Alaska to supplant its need for diesel power generation.
the latest design for a wave-powered electric generator I saw used props"exactly" like the skegs on my surfboard.
the design of surfboard fins generates forward movement regardless of the direction the water is going past. left to right or right to left matters not.
hard to describe in words: so picture a fan blade that spins the same direction no matter which direction the wind blows.
the result is the wave generator spins the same direction when the water comes in and when it goes back out.
maybe they are using that type of design on tidal energy as well? or have they built a generator that can spin either way?
gonna have to dig into this.
I believe in time we can tap enough natural energy to make fossil fuels obsolete.
we need much better batteries - and that day will come
we need much better batteries - and that day will come
That is especially true with solar power--- in some cases on sunny days more energy is generated than can be immediately used-- but on cloudy days little or no energy is generated-- so the problem is that we need better storage technology.
Of course all technologies improve over time, so I do agree-- battery technology continues to impriove, getting cheaper and safer.
(With tidal energy that's not really much of a problem since the rise and fall of the tides are constant).
train goes up, the train goes down: a simple new way to store energy
In 1920's the N&W and Virginian railroads electrified their steepest grades, a train going down hill using regenerative braking could put back into the wire about a third of the electricity needed to bring another train up the mountain. This was just a side benefit of the very efficient electric operation. This lasted until the earl 1960s.
The idea is very workable and locomotive traction motors have greatly improved
I recall reading many years ago about a proposal to harness the tidal energy outside the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, where apparently the tides are quite powerful. I don't think it went anywhere because of the expense involved, and especially since Quebec harnesses enough hydro-electric power to sell its excess to the neighbouring American States.
Thank you, Krishna - you are right. I knew that the area I had read about was in the Maritime region of the east coast of Canada and I mistakenly thought it was near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.
I had to laugh at the map in the article you linked. It shows Toronto located on the south coast of Lake Erie (in Ohio) instead of on the north coast of Lake Ontario.
I remember reading an article a year or so ago that one country France using this method already.
Actually there are two...
Tidal energy (or tidal power) can be used wherever there is a large bay or river mouth with a narrow outlet to the sea. This means the tides rush in and out at speed and are able to spin electricity turbines.The are two functioning tidal power plants in the world is in France (Rance) and it is a 240 MW unit and a 254 MW unit called the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Plant in South Korea.
There may be other countries starting to do this as well. Some time ago I remember reading that Norway had been planning to do this. MarineEnergy.biz.
I think that over time we will continually develop new and better ways toharness the forces of nature for energy-- withiout the health problems inherent in burning fossil fuekls.
Nuclear is apparently fairly inexpensive and doesn't pollute-- well, until there's a nuclear accident that releases radiation into the environment.
So harnessing natural forces such as sunlight, wind, and tides seem to be the best way to go. (Although apparently the majority of coal miners still believe the bizarre myth that there's a bright future for the coal industry
In Bath County, Virginia there is a pump storage operation. Water is pumped up to upper lake during low use times and let out to generate electricity when demand is high.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Possible endless energy. Thoughts?
tidal, river, and even waves themselves
awesome stuff.
the latest design for a wave-powered electric generator I saw used props"exactly" like the skegs on my surfboard.
the design of surfboard fins generates forward movement regardless of the direction the water is going past. left to right or right to left matters not.
hard to describe in words: so picture a fan blade that spins the same direction no matter which direction the wind blows.
the result is the wave generator spins the same direction when the water comes in and when it goes back out.
maybe they are using that type of design on tidal energy as well? or have they built a generator that can spin either way?
gonna have to dig into this.
I believe in time we can tap enough natural energy to make fossil fuels obsolete.
we need much better batteries - and that day will come
Large sodium batteries that hold more energy and recharge more quickly are being developed as we speak,
ideal where space is not a big factor,
so lithium will eventually be limited to laptops, phones, and smaller devices.
Same here. The ones now aren't powerful enough to go around the fence, concrete, brick.
we need much better batteries - and that day will come
That is especially true with solar power--- in some cases on sunny days more energy is generated than can be immediately used-- but on cloudy days little or no energy is generated-- so the problem is that we need better storage technology.
Of course all technologies improve over time, so I do agree-- battery technology continues to impriove, getting cheaper and safer.
(With tidal energy that's not really much of a problem since the rise and fall of the tides are constant).
There's a solution to storing energy that I read about many years ago. I forgot where I saw it so I googled and came up with this article.
Better storage batteries are probably the best answer to the storage problem, but this idea may work in the meantime-- clever but really simple!
The train goes up, the train goes down: a simple new way to store energy
In 1920's the N&W and Virginian railroads electrified their steepest grades, a train going down hill using regenerative braking could put back into the wire about a third of the electricity needed to bring another train up the mountain. This was just a side benefit of the very efficient electric operation. This lasted until the earl 1960s.
The idea is very workable and locomotive traction motors have greatly improved
I recall reading many years ago about a proposal to harness the tidal energy outside the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, where apparently the tides are quite powerful. I don't think it went anywhere because of the expense involved, and especially since Quebec harnesses enough hydro-electric power to sell its excess to the neighbouring American States.
I believe the Bay of Fundy has the largest tidal range in the world (?):
The Phenomenal Bay of Fundy
Yep-- the Bay of Funny has the highest range of tides in the world-- its no joke!
Thank you, Krishna - you are right. I knew that the area I had read about was in the Maritime region of the east coast of Canada and I mistakenly thought it was near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.
I had to laugh at the map in the article you linked. It shows Toronto located on the south coast of Lake Erie (in Ohio) instead of on the north coast of Lake Ontario.
I remember reading an article a year or so ago that one country France using this method already.
Actually there are two...
There may be other countries starting to do this as well. Some time ago I remember reading that Norway had been planning to do this. MarineEnergy.biz.
I think that over time we will continually develop new and better ways toharness the forces of nature for energy-- withiout the health problems inherent in burning fossil fuekls.
Nuclear is apparently fairly inexpensive and doesn't pollute-- well, until there's a nuclear accident that releases radiation into the environment.
So harnessing natural forces such as sunlight, wind, and tides seem to be the best way to go. (Although apparently the majority of coal miners still believe the bizarre myth that there's a bright future for the coal industry
Looks like tidal power may indeed be the wave of the future!
(pun intended
In Bath County, Virginia there is a pump storage operation. Water is pumped up to upper lake during low use times and let out to generate electricity when demand is high.