Tidal power is non-polluting, reliable and predictable. Undersea tidal turbines, like wind turbines but driven by the sea, and a variety of machines harnessing undersea currents are under development.
OTEC energy is based on the temperature differences between surface water, which is heated by the sun, and deep water, which stays very cold. OTEC uses the surface water to make steam and then pass the steam through a turbine generator to make electricity.
Oceanic surface currents are an untapped source of energy. Because of their link to winds and surface heating processes, the ocean currents are considered as indirect sources of solar energy.
Waves get their energy from the wind. Wind comes from solar energy. Waves gather, store, and transmit this energy thousands of miles with little loss. As long as the sun shines, wave energy will never be depleted.
With the oceans covering over 70% of the earth’s surface, they are the world’s largest collectors of the sun’s vast energy – and the largest powerhouse in the world. Just a small portion of the energy conveniently stored in the oceans could power the world.
Wind energy is an indirect form of solar energy. While some of the sun's energy is absorbed directly by the air, most of the energy in the wind is first absorbed by the surface of the earth and then transferred to the air by convection.
Tidal Energy NewsResearch on Wooden Tidal Energy Turbine BladesSunday, 06 June 2010
Oslo, Norway [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
The Harstad-based company Hydra Tidal will install a full-scale
(1.5-MW) prototype of its tidal energy plant at Gimsøystraumen, a
marine channel in Nordland County. The Morild floating power plant will
be moored to the seabed and mostly submerged, with turbine wings
spanning a diameter of 23 metres. However, its most unique feature is
that its turbine blades are made of laminated pine.
Wood
has not been used in modern turbine blade designs for decades. But
company founder and R&D director Svein D. Henriksen extols... Read More...
Wave Energy News Massive Offshore Waves Sink Australia’s Oceanlinx Wavepower PilotSunday, 06 June 2010Oceanlinx; named one of the world’s Top Ten Renewable Energy Investments
by the UN, needs to go back to the drawing board to iron out some kinks
in the design of its 2.5 MW wave energy power station.
A massive swell at the Port Kembla site, 150 meters off the coast of Australia
was able to sink the continent’s first wave power device to feed power
to the Australian grid. The $5 million pre-commercial pilot project had
just begun supplying power to the shore in February 2010.
The wave energy industry is in its infancy. Other than this, only
half a dozen pilots are... Read More...
OTEC NewsLockheed Martin Receives Largest Federal Ocean Energy Award in 30 YearsTuesday, 25 August 2009Released Friday, August 21, 2009 5PM EST:
Lockheed Martin Corp., Manassas, Va., is being awarded an $8,119,625 firm-fixed-priced contract to advance the development of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) technology system components and subsystems for Navy applications. The work will support the Naval Facilities Engineering Services Center (NAVFAC ESC) Ocean Facilities Department in the execution of ocean energy systems development to advance OTEC as a renewable ocean energy technology for future applications at Department of Navy facilities. The primary work to... Read More...
Worldwide Ocean Energy NewsOfficials celebrate opening of America's first hydrokinetic power projectTuesday, 25 August 2009HOUSTON, Texas, U.S. 8/20/09 (PennWell) -
On the Mississipi River in Hastings, Minn., the first of two hydrokinetic turbines has been activated as officials celebrated the official opening of what has been billed as the nation’s first federally-licensed hydrokinetic power project.
Federal, state and city officials gathered here Aug. 20, 2009, to mark the first production of a 100-KW turbine manufactured by Houston-based Hydro Green Energy LLC. The second turbine will be installed next year. Together, the two units will be able to generate up to 250 KW at the Mississippi Lock and... Read More...
Wave Energy NewsOcean Power Technologies Achieves Major Milestones with PB150 PowerBuoyFriday, 12 June 2009PENNINGTON, N.J., Jun 11, 2009- Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. ( NASDAQ:OPTT and NASDAQ:London NASDAQ:Stock NASDAQ:Exchange NASDAQ:AIM: OPT) ("OPT" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has reached two major manufacturing milestones in the development of the Company's flagship PB150 PowerBuoy(R), which is to be ready for deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Scotland by the end of 2009.
A state-of-the-art wave energy converter, the PB150 is the latest exciting development in OPT's utility PowerBuoy product range. Once fully... Read More...
