Sea Turbines - Is the Ocean the Answer?
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originally posted at:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/4/204621/501
Is the Ocean the Answer?
by tecampbellhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
After participating in a discussion in Plutonium Page's excellent Front Page diary Non-Treehuggers Criticize the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership I started doing a bit more research on a rarely spoken of renewable energy solution: sea turbines. (see also http://www.guardian.co.uk/renewable/Story/0,2763,892292,00.html)
The more I researched the more I realized the tremendous potential of the oceans as a sustainable energy resource.
There are now numerous competing technologies for using the ocean as a resource, from above water buoys and planes, to below surface turbines like the one mentioned above, to ocean thermal energy conversion, to shoreline devices which harness the motion of waves as they push an air pocket up and down behind a breakwater. A very good overview of the available technologies can be found here. (http://peswiki.com/energy/Directory:Ocean_Wave_Energy)
According to one study, wave power alone could produce as much electricity as coal:
According to a report released in January, 2005, the total wave power along the coastlines of the U.S. is approximately 2,100 terrawatt hours per year, nearly as much as all of the electricity produced by coal and roughly 10 times the total energy produced by all of the country's hydroelectric plants.
Why aren't these systems being implemented in the US? Apparently, the federal government is the issue:
Bedard says that wave energy systems requires smaller investments than offshore wind energy systems because the equipment is much lighter, but the private sector has been wary to invest because the expense for setting up demonstrations is high, and obtaining federal permits can take many years.
Instead, Bedard says the federal government should step in with funding to help the technology succeed.
"Very simply, new energy sources have always been funded by the federal government," Bedard says. However, "(t)he Department of Energy does not have an ocean energy program.".
The Department of Energy had a program for ocean energy, but it was discontinued, according to spokesman Tom Welch.
The UK, South Africa, and Israel all have instituted or are moving forward with programs using ocean energy. But the Energy Department under Bush/Cheney has nuked the program?
This country needs to move forward on all available renewable energy resources. The investment by the federal government in wind power and solar power also has declined proportionally to that of fossil fuel and nuclear production. Clearly these technologies must be part of the solution to fighting global warming and dealing with diminishing resources.
Perhaps Congressional involvement is in order? Apparently it is moving forward, but it may be an uphill fight to get it past the Bush administration. Call or write your Congresspersons/Senators for support.
3 comments:
To read the latest about OTEC, see OTEC News, a non-profit service which reports about OTEC and related technologies.
When promoting renewable energy sources, we have to be careful about where we place them and to what degree. If there is one thing we have learned about the environment is its complexity and interconnectedness. For ocean energy technologies placed near shoreline ecosystems, we need to recognize first that some of them rely on currents and tides. We must have a better understanding of the impact of ocean/water current turbines. If we reduce the energy that reaches shoreline ecosystems, we can end up further reducing populations of species there. For example, many ocean dwelling species rely upon microorganisms, plankton and other very small organisms as the beginning of the food chain. What if not as much of that critical food supply reaches the appropriate ocean dwelling ecosystems? Then we will have smaller populations of small species that larger species that we use as food rely upon.
We need to make sure that we pursue renewable energy diversification.
I am looking into OTEC News.
A fine word of caution concerning consequences of altering the flow of energy.
Perhaps we can see this as a counterpoint to the reduction of plankton produced by the warming of our oceans? (Colder water dissolves more gas to promote plankton growth.)
Might we hope the two efforts might offset each other?
I'd be curious to read any studies you (or any other reader) may hear of.
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