Renewable energy sources are being harnessed only in the past couple of decades and even till today we are unable to harness it fully as much of the energy possessed by the elements is going down the dumps. We still are not able to completely use the heat of the sun, the power of the wind and the turbulence of the ocean to power our energy needs substantially. The fault lies in the fact that our technology is still unable to cap these mighty resources to an extent to which we wish to do it.
A British firm has agreed to build a giant tidal power scheme, the world’s largest, in South Korea, using underwater turbines that experts say could make the proposed £15 billion Severn Barrage obsolete. The £500 million scheme proposed off the South Korean coast will use power from fast-moving tidal streams, caused by rising and falling tides, to turn a field of 300 60ft-high tidal turbines on the sea floor. The project aims at generating energy from a source that has been overlooked quite a lot in the past in terms of its energy potential.
The turbines are dropped into deep water, so they are not a danger to ships, and the ecological impacts are less than tidal barrages which take away mudflats important to birds and impede the passage of migratory fish such as salmon, shad and eels. The joint venture between Lunar Energy, a British tidal power company, and Korean Midland Power Company, in the Wando Hoenggan waterway is expected to power 200,000 homes by 2015.
Lunar Energy is already working with the energy company E.ON on a proposal for an eight turbine tidal power scheme off the Welsh coast. The design of turbine chosen by the company is based on existing technology used in the oil industry. It has a 2,500 ton frame into which a “cassette” containing a pump, generator, motor and electronics are dropped. The economic and environmental fallouts of such ventures will be also clear with the latest projects providing us a good view of what we can expect in future. It is not easy to harness energy fro the ocean as its saline water and turbulent conditions provide enormous challenges to the designers. But only time will tell if we can overcome the odds presented by the deep fathoms.
A tidal barrage across the Bay of Fundy in Canada has been blamed for riverbank erosion upstream and downstream and last year a young hump-back whale was found dead after trying to follow fish through the sluice gates. Hence, this new and innovative solution is aimed at eliminating that problem and making sure that tidal energy is eco friendly.
