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Turbine technology is turning the tides into power

timesonline.co.uk — The world ’s first deep-water device to generate electricity from the tides on a commercial scale is due to start operating within weeks. A seagoing crane barge has lowered the 1,000-tonne double turbine into place and an operation to fix it to the seabed with 12 metre (40 ft) pins begins today.

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  • aaaleman, on 04/08/2008, -1/+15Love to read stuff like this!
    • tugger, on 04/08/2008, -2/+3er.. hello? The severn river 'commercial' turbine in the british isles been providing electricity into the national grid since the mid-70s. The same system in Norway fjords and somewhere in Japan.
      The US's first turbine would be a better description.
      • manitoba98xp, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3Are those *tidal* turbine systems? (I honestly don't know, it's just that's what the article refers to; you'd think they'd know about something in the UK, seeing as it's a UK, not US, news source.)
  • revenueforlife, on 04/08/2008, -9/+1Thanks for sending it to me!
  • praneym, on 04/08/2008, -4/+12I wonder if it is harmful to the marine life
    • hiPpymIck, on 04/08/2008, -0/+9theyre going to monitor it
      "It has established a £2million programme to closely monitor the environmental impact of SeaGen, involving scientists from the Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrew’s University (SMRU).
      http://www.marineturbines.com/3/news/article/7/sea ...
    • lettruthout, on 04/08/2008, -0/+8A better question is: Will it harm sea life LESS than current fossil fuels do? All the mercury from coal burning power plants can't be doing sea life any good.
    • lou2005, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3i understand that its so noisy that any sea life that can propel itself will steer clear. if i understand it right the blades rotate pretty slowly so the little stuff isn't effected much.
    • MizuhoChan, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1The best question is: Does anybody care if it harms marine life?
      • lettruthout, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2You care only if you want to continue living - we cannot survive without it.
    • fquednau, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2Mate, it's gonna make Sushi on a big scale. This is gonna be big in Japan!
  • DeskFlyer, on 04/08/2008, -15/+2DIGG NOT ***** SAVED, PLEASE RELOAD THE ***** PAGE TRY AGAIN!
  • christenn, on 04/08/2008, -12/+0come on vicki3ii . i want to be your friend
  • luigisalas, on 04/08/2008, -7/+1very nice post!
  • philodygmn, on 04/08/2008, -6/+10This is worse than wind power turbines. Buoys are a much better way to harness wave power.
    • 471776, on 04/08/2008, -0/+9This is tidal power, not wave power.

      Although I agree, buoys are the best method of tapping wave power.
  • Bukowsky, on 04/08/2008, -2/+4I'm not quite sure how effective these turbines are going to be in the long-run. Don't get me wrong. I like any form of Alternative/Clean Energy, but I just don't think this is going to have as big of an impact as Solar & Wind projects.
    • lettruthout, on 04/08/2008, -0/+5Try reading the article...
      "The holy grail for tidal energy experts, however, is the Pentland Firth... Once attainable it could supply up to 15 per cent of Britain’s electricity."
      ...That's just one location. 'Seems pretty significant to me.
  • sockpuppets, on 04/08/2008, -1/+2Can someone explain to me why tapping tidal power isn't considered "free energy"? It's effectively harnessing gravity, isn't it?
    • TJ11240, on 04/08/2008, -6/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force#Explanati ...
      • petrodollar, on 04/08/2008, -0/+4Was that supposed to answer his question?
    • joshblufs, on 04/08/2008, -1/+2Well defining "free energy" seems to be the first problem. If the term wasn't so hopelessly confused with perpetual motion and wild conspiracy theories someone might be able to come up with an answer. I looked but so far have been unable to find a credible and or widely accepted definition. Do you have one? Perhaps you could rephrase your question so it is not so nebulous.
    • jmkiii, on 04/08/2008, -0/+4Economically, it is.
      Physically, it is not.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_energy
      • joshblufs, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1"Economically, it is." building and maintaining offshore underwater turbines is free?
        • jmkiii, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1RTF wiki link. It's not my terminology.
          • joshblufs, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Which F'in wiki link? that one is a directory.

            "Free energy may refer to:" followed by an assload of links.......

            Do I have to read them all?
          • jmkiii, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2Energy with no or negligible feedstock cost, including solar power, telluric power, WATER POWER, and wind power
    • acdcfanbill, on 04/08/2008, -1/+2Because we would be essentially slowing the orbit of the moon by a very small amount.
  • MeatyDoughnut, on 04/08/2008, -4/+7But will it blend...stuff?
  • dustedknuckle, on 04/08/2008, -1/+2This is great stuff, there is enough naturally created energy in the world, ie wind, solar, tidal, geothermal to help us get energy independence from the oil barons, unfortunately its going to take some time and a lot of money.....

    That being said though..... there are still a lot of things we need oil for, plastics, fertilizers etc.
    • lettruthout, on 04/08/2008, -1/+4A good way to get started in the US is to stop corporate welfare for the oil industry. Instead turn that money towards renewable energy. We're going to run out of fossil fuels some day, and they're going to become more expensive until we do, so let's start moving towards renewables now.
  • wrathchilde, on 04/08/2008, -4/+2ignore, wrong link, sry.

    Hey Kevin, lemme delete this *****!
  • Enron1985, on 04/08/2008, -1/+3There has got to be some sort of ecological impact that will ***** people off.
    • kraakmark, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1Does slowing down the revolution of the planet by seconds/per decade count?
    • lettruthout, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1You mean: there has to be some kind of red herring environmental scare issue that fossil advocates can use to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)?
  • KdogTN, on 04/08/2008, -0/+5This is just one notch in the cog of being environmentally friendly. This combined with wave, solar, wind, geothermal, ethanol and conservation will make a difference. It's all one big wheel we have to put into motion to save our environment... Good work and hope it make a difference..
    • serif69, on 04/08/2008, -0/+4Take ethanol out of there and you're spot on.
  • Balath, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2Dug for the pun in the title. It made me groan aloud.
  • mrch0mp3rs, on 04/08/2008, -3/+5These turbines seem like free energy, but they'll slow the earth's rotation down by changing the pattern of the ocean currents, thus ripping holes in the very fabric of space and time.
    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southland_Tales
    • gwolf, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Your really good at not finding the bright side of things aren't you.
      • whatsthatsmell, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1and you are not good at locating humor, are you?
  • etx313, on 04/08/2008, -3/+1Oh crap. It's just like Southland Tales. We're all doomed.
  • billygoatzz, on 04/08/2008, -2/+2This kinda stuff always remind me of a wish i had as a kid.

    That when a hurricane was coming, way out in the ocean we would put up wind generators and wave and current power tapping devices, and by the time they got to shore the storm was tapped of all its power.

    So we would turn something destructive into something good.

    I know its almost impossible but we can dream.
  • elfprince13, on 04/08/2008, -1/+3and we didn't do this 20 years ago, because?
  • purpleaffro, on 04/08/2008, -0/+2This is starting to be done in Nova Scotia too, in the Bay of Fundy but with small mini wind turbines on the ocean floor.
  • TheSwashbuckler, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3First there was solar power, now there's lunar power...
  • diggcensors, on 04/08/2008, -1/+3Maybe this will slow the Moon's orbit until it falls and kills us all... you damn dirty hippies...
  • LOVEANDEQUALITY, on 04/08/2008, -0/+0neat!
  • makis, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1i think wave dragons ( http://www.wavedragon.net/ ) are better and less harmfull
  • nplotkow, on 04/08/2008, -0/+0Moon Power!!!
  • gwolf, on 04/08/2008, -0/+3Can you imagine where we would be if we spent the moon shot and Manhattan project money on alternative energy.
  • drguerra, on 04/08/2008, -3/+1This is horrible on marine ecosystems. It increases the temperature of the water, displaces fish and other marine creatures. Really just a horrible idea. Wind is a much more ecologically sound means of producing electricity.
    • lettruthout, on 04/08/2008, -1/+2Care to substantiate any of those wild claims?
    • drguerra, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1They are hardly wild.
      "...the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream. Many birds rely on the tide uncovering the mud flats so that they can feed."
      http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm
      I'm sure you can find many more links on the topic.
  • Hetman, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1This sounds great but like all forms of energy some enviromentalist. "not that I have a problem with them, the enviroment should be protected but sacerfices have to be made" Will be like but it is destroying the ecosystem of the sea. Just as they say the same thing about wind powered turbines. "kill rare bird speices because they fly into it." Im sorry but at a certain point you have to chose human over the other species. Yea their are going to be problems. But would you prefer oil, nuclear, solar. "producing solar panels causes a lot of pollution" water. You have to chose one or STFU and stop using electric.
  • OhhhhhBlair, on 04/08/2008, -2/+1CAN I HAZ HOME PLZ
  • whatsthatsmell, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1FLUID KARMA?
    • whatsthatsmell, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1wish this had showed up so i hadn't reposted it. now i look really dumb
  • whatsthatsmell, on 04/08/2008, -0/+1Fluid Karma?
  • blipblipbeep, on 04/08/2008, -0/+0ha, magnetic energy, sun moon earth, waves, free power. do u understand now. read em and weep. live long free energy.
  • benbrooks101, on 04/08/2008, -0/+11980 want's their article back.
  • petermoffat, on 04/08/2008, -1/+1So... Does anyone else think that it might be worth investigating what would happen if there were no more waves in the area? Remember that these machines would be converting the wave energy to electrical energy, i.e. the waves would be less powerful/non-existent (depending on how well this works).

    I really hope someone has taken the time to maybe model the coast lines in the surrounding area and do some hydro-dynamic simulations to make sure this doesn't cause *****..
  • islandlife, on 04/08/2008, -0/+0so how does the invetor intend on protecting the sea life from being fillet by the blades?
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