Wave and Tidal Power

Wave and Tidal Power
By Paul David Shrader, 2005
Wave Power I
• Wave power is
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harnessed much like a
“reverse wavegenerator” in a
swimming pool.
Waves enter a
chamber, which
forces air out of the
chamber, which turns
a turbine.
Wave Power in Action
• Wavegen, a Scottish
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company, produces
generators that work off
of wave power.
Limpet (Land Installed
Marine Powered Energy
Transformer) is
Wavegen’s main
innovation.
Wave Power Possibilities
Problem- Waves aren’t
dependable!
Wave Power in Action II
• Ocean Power Delivery is another company
striving to take advantage of wave power.
• OPD uses long floating tubes (each the
size of about 5 railroad cars) which bend
when waves hit them, driving generators.
• An OPD “tube” is called a Pelamis.
• Interactive Pelamis Model
Wave Power in Action III
Tidal Power
• Tidal power relies on the moon’s
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effect on oceans: tides.
Only a few sites in full use at the
moment: White Sea in Russia (1969)
& Rance River, France (1967), and
several in Norway
Together they have a total capacity of
producing less than 250 megawatts of
energy.
Bay of Funday on the US-Canadian
border could potentially produce
about 30,000 MW of energy, but it
would probably destroy a crucial
estuary that fosters much of the fowl
and fishes in the area.
Ebb, flood, two-way, two-basin
generation
Problem of moon cycle (24.8 hours)
vs. earth cycle (24 hours), causing
high-energy times to change.
Other Tidal Energy Generation
• In Norway, turbines similar to
• In Norway, turbines similar to
•
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wind power generators have
been installed underwater.
Called “The Blue Concept”, it is
a move toward more
renewable energy sources.
Underwater turbines that are
cheap and relatively
predictable generate energy.
Norway's normal annual
production from hydropower is
115 TWh.
Other Tidal (cont.)
• “In Norway and EU the estimated potential of
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this energy source is 600 GWh and 48 TWh,
respectively. In the world at large the potential
tidal power exceeds 450 TWh, most of it located
in Asia and America. If the potential stream
energy of rivers is included, these numbers
become even higher.”
Streams move at roughly 2m/s (turbines won’t
interfere with animal life at such low speeds)
Works Referenced
• http://www.wavegen.co.uk/what_we_offer_limp
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et.htm
http://www.e-tidevannsenergi.com/index.htm
http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/egj09/youngqu1.html
http://www.oceanpd.com/Links/videos.html
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/wave.htm