Scientists: Revolutionary Device Can Harness Ocean Currents To Power The World

Daily Telegraph:

A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim.

The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe.

Read the whole story: Daily Telegraph

Comments

[nellie]

Ahhh... The return of science.

[KillTheMessenger]

Except that this isn't science. It's mechanical engineering. By definition science is the attempt to LEARN ABOUT nature. Engineering, on the other hand, makes use of science to USE nature.

[WongChin]

You started the nitpicking, but you actually defined TECHNOLOGY, which is in the final analysis a subset of science, much like engineering is a subset of technology. Therefore, there is nothing in regarding engineering as science, broadly speaking.

[Big0725]

You could mess up a wet dream!

I see you were posting this late Saturday / early Sunday. Might the brain have been addled by some substance?

[darthdarcy]

Actually I'm working on this giant elastic band that once we wind it up all the way....

[oldvet]

Let's see, you're a Republican of the Luddite persuasion, right?

[darthdarcy]

The worst thing about the left these days is that it's lost it's sense of humor, when I was hanging with Abbie Hoffman and we had the same lawyer Lenny Weinglass, Abbie would crack me up laughing so hard my side hurt and I'd literally fall out of my chair...

Abbie always said the right had no sense of humor that's why they'd lose in the end, and that we must never lose ours...

Yeah that's me a real Republican Luddite, yup you betch'ya....

[bbridges1962]

How about the world's largest water wheel?? Now that the astronauts are working outside of the box (and losing tool boxes), they could fly to the top of the 4000 mile tall water wheel and do necessary repairs !!

[DudleysPa]

I would want to know a lot more about the energy involved in manufacturing, installing and maintaining such a system, but my initial reaction is...well...COOL! I do think the impact on marine life could be minimal with careful selection of sites.

The biggest shame is that the technology doesn't sound very sci-fi, and you have to wonder whether we could have had this up and running years ago had we had been willing to invest more in green science.

Anyway...very promising. I hope the new administration takes note, funds further (and rapid) study, and also protects us from those who would prefer it didn't happen at all. Now, all we need is a good lightweight battery!

[jeg]

If I read it correctly, it's one of those "Why didn't *I* think of that?!?" ideas. The impact on marine life should be negligble, aside from some thumping noise, and well, a whale could get a serious headache if it tried to swim through.

The biggest challenge for the Obama administration is to shove new regulations down state and local government to make it easier to rebuild the grid. It's sad that our national grid hasn't changed much since Nikolai Tesla's day.

[KillTheMessenger]

"If I read it correctly, it's one of those "Why didn't *I* think of that?!?" ideas.'

As a hunch... because you have no clue about hydrodynamics?

"The impact on marine life should be negligible"

And you are judging that how? By guessing?

[newworldman777]

I was wondering when our scientists were going to put their minds together and devise a method of producing electricity from the plethora of moving water that imbues our world. In my hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi, the formidable Yazoo River flows right through the town at about 4 or 5 knots. I observe it all of the time, thinking that so much potential energy is going to waste. If our mayor had any sense whatsoever, she would be the first in line to get Federal grants to implement such a system that would generate power for the city. Unfortunately, she is lacking in the department of...ahum..."qualifications," if you know what I mean, and she would never even think to do something as..."creative"...as that.

[Mugzi]

Yes, and once we get away from the oil baron adminstration, we will probably be seeing alot of innovative technology. I can't wait!!!

[Lahonda]

One should install one of those devices in front of Ann Coulter's face before the wiring comes out. She'll have a lot to whine about by then!

[AC500]

Dah! Hello! This information has been out for quite some time now in Spiritual circles.

[walk0nwalls]

Well one hopes. Seems like the environmental footprint would be huge though.

[KillTheMessenger]

Pssst... the marine engineering crowd never talks about the environmental destruction. By design their devices never leak oil, do not destroy ecosystems and at the end of their life form the best artificial reefs which greatly exceed the beauty of natural ones.

:-)

[notb observer]

How on earth did this research project get past Bush, Cheney and the Neo-Cons ? I'm surprised they didn't use the Patriot Act to lock these scientists in Gitmo !

Hopefully as some of this technology matures and begins to come on line, the Big Oil execs will have many sleepless nights worrying about their billion dollar profits being swept away by the surge of sea tides, and the House of Saud will be making some plans for a permanent move to a safer country !

[kellygrrrl]

I am so grateful that the Science Deniers and Suppressers will soon be out of control

[Jezdukowski]

Me too, feel like I can breathe again. I have detested these past 8 years in our (American) history - Obama's election, (regardless of what you think of him) at least shows that perhaps we're moving forward again as a country. Intellectualism is back - in a BIG way, thank God (or whatever deity you may or may not worship) ;-p

[KillTheMessenger]

Thank God? I think Obama's charisma and my substantial campaign contributions had more to do with that.

:-)

[TXfemmom]

This is the kind of thing which Obama has been stressing. We go into green power generation, patent the thing for the government, meaning that all citizens of the United States benefit from it, require that all components and materials are manufactured and produced here, and sell it to the world. Bye bye coal, nuclear power, and dirty energy. Hello millions of jobs, clean air, and TO A FANTASTIC FUTURE.

No selling the technology to some firm for a pittance, who then ships the jobs to China. NO. Patent the device and ENFORCE THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF IT. No China copying it, as they do everything else. We could produce the energy to light and heat and cool our homes, our businesses, and our cars, for far less than OIL, COAL, AND EVEN SOLAR. Yippee.

[RationalDubSteppa]

It's somewhat of a quiet relief that we still got it when it comes to science in America, despite the war on education and science fiercely mounted by Evangelical Christians, specially the last 8 years which have probably been the most intellectually incurious years in America's history. Hopefully the next 8 years will be filled with technological promise and scientific excellence driving back the medieval witch-craft believing space god adoring will of evangelicals christians.

[PhilipTaylor]

The war was also against our young children as they tried to limit science and math to a Sixth grade level while trying to add Religious Teachings to science.

Our students are taught and re-taught the same Weak Math and Science over and over year after year! I am sure their are exceptions but the vast majority of students suffer this limitation!

It is no wonder students find it "Boring" and have no desire or ability to follow through on Science or Engineering at the College Level!

[willfarnaby]

Yes indeed.

If humankind - and therefore virtually every other species of fauna and flora - is to have a future it will be due to using brainpower. The lazy wallowing in the muddy pool of superstitious nonsense must cease.

[Liberoservative]

Obama's admistration will make "geek" "cool" again....

IOW..... back when Kennedy said we were going to the moon, we had a spike of kids wanting to be scientists and astronauts.... when Reagan came into power with his voodoo economics, the spike went to Wall Street financiers and greed....

Obama re-introduces "cool" into research and science.... gives us incentives to become teachers... and gives us a goal to work towards..

Now.. just how cool is that???????

:) :) :)

[Jezdukowski]

Very cool. Ain't it grand?

[Liberoservative]

As one of those geeks....

I think it is very very cool!!!

:)

[Chrisa]

... And when the oil companies break out their wallets, it will never make it out of production.

Electric Car Pt. II. Why innovate when you can enslave and stay back in the stone age and make more money from that?

[PhilipTaylor]

Obama is not the OIL PUPPET BUSH IS!

This is the kind of thinking we need and just think of the flood control that it could offer in New Orleans and along the Texas Coast!

We have to get out of the "Oil Price CYCLE" as that is another thing that is bankrupting America! Remember this summer when OIL was $147 per barrel!

[Roland3337]

Agreed. And that is one downside to $2 a gallon gas.

I hope our memories are not so short.

[SolarPowerGuy]

I'm not seeing any connection between flood control and this energy generating technology. Care to explain?

[Evelyn]

Imagine a world in which electricity is produced without any coal emissions. And that electricity is used to power cars, so that cities become clean and quiet places to live. Pretty sweet.

[tkondaks]

Yes, it would be wonderful.
But we can't have TOTALLY quiet cars once they become 100% electric; even if a little noise has to be created artificially, it will be necessary so that pedestrians know that cars are approaching. I suspect that this will be required to be built in so as to curtail accidents.

[valkyrie607]

Why cars? Why do we always assume cars? Can we dare imagine a world with no need for cars? Or at least fewer cars?

[Mikeatle]

I love the idea of a world with no cars, but that's going to take awhile to implement in places like America. Our country is predicated on the idea of movement over vast spaces. Cars have been the movement of choice for nearly a hundred years. Whole cities have grown up to accommodate car movement. It'll take a hundred years or more to make the kind of changes you are talking about. That said, I think we should get started on that hundred years as soon as possible.

[jeg]

I'm not walking 15 miles to my job. There is no bus. There is no train. My flying car hasn't arrived yet.

Strange to conceive, I know, but there are a lot of us who need some form of "personal transportation". Call it whatever you like, wagon, buggy, quadro-ped, tri-ped, car, automobile, hovercraft, jumpjet, gyro-copter, whatever... They're going to exist until we manage to pave the whole freakin' planet.

And personally, I'd rather have the car than the pavement.

[Motes]

Doing some quick math with 1m3 and 3 knots you have about 1000kg traveling at ~ 1.5 m/sec or about 1.1 kW of kinetic energy of the flowing water. So this will convert about 5% of it to electrical energy although it may take ~ 10% of mechanical energy conversion to do this as the process is probably not completely efficient. This would mean the water would reduce in speed by ~ 5% flowing through this contraption. Someone please check the math. I would think that this could cause changes in future erosion patterns as well as clogging up the actual space where these devices are located. It seems that you would also have a system to collect the electrical energy for all of these contraptions. If this is a large scale system that will not be trivial (especially a 1.5km2 system given as an example.) My 2 cents.

[SolarPowerGuy]

"I would think that this could cause changes in future erosion patterns"

If you crowd the devices, yes. So you should spread them out.