How Australia could harness its tides for energy

[New World Explorer]

Australia is famous for its beaches and exhilarating surf. But the ocean offers more than just a surfer's paradise: its tides are also a source of renewable energy.

Among those harnessing this tidal potential is Sydney-based Mako Energy. The company makes underwater turbines ranging between two and four meters in diameter. One turbine operating in constantly flowing water can produce enough electricity to power up to 20 homes.

Their design enables them to generate electricity even in slow-flowing water, meaning they could be used in rivers and irrigation canals as well as the ocean.The island nation is only beginning to explore tidal power through a number of pilot projects. But this form of energy has one major advantage: its predictability. While the sun may not shine, or the wind may not blow, the sea moves in predictable tidal currents.https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/07/business/australia-tidal-energy-gec-spc/index.html

 

Something that we can use in Paradise? 

[Tortuga]

I have always thought that it was fascinating to generate electricity from the ocean movement. There are different methods that have been used. One method is a series of flotation devices, another method used a rocking plate. Pretty interesting stuff.

[Tortuga]

You might find this interesting.  Especially the Modern Technology section. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power

[Qapla]

About 45 miles from where I live is a State Park on a unique river. The river is spring fed and runs about 6 miles. The water is rather cool (72° F year round but feels colder than that) and flows constantly.

 

There is one spring that is 37' deep (called The Blue Hole) that is a very nice place to try to swim - except that the "boil" at the surface will push you away making it nearly impossible to stay directly over the spring at the bottom. That spring produces about 67,000,000 gallons of water per day (yep that's right, 67 million) - that's about 2.792 million gallons an hour or 47,000 gallons every minute

 

In all this time they have never tapped this constant flow of water to produce electricity. I realize it is in a State Park and that they want to preserve the beauty - an I agree with that. But, it seems to me, there should be a way to design a non-intrusive turbine that could capture the speed and force of all that water without taking away the natural beauty.

 

 

The light blue area in the pic is the "boil" from the spring 37 feet below

 

 

I guess I should mention that I have been swimming in this spring  

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Qapla