Gulf Stream's Tidal Energy Could Provide Up to a Third of Florida's Power
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 12. 5.07
Image courtesy of FAU
As solar, wind and other renewable energy technologies increasingly become seen as viable alternatives to coal- and fossil fuel-based ones, some scientists are already looking beyond recent breakthroughs in these areas to the vast, largely untapped potential offered by the world's oceans. This follows a recent announcement by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne clearing the way for further research and investment into wind, wave and tidal technologies on the U.S.'s Outer Continental Shelf.
Rick Driscoll, director of Florida Atlantic University's Center of Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology (CEOET), and his colleagues are hard at work developing a device that could allow his state to procure up to a third of its energy needs by tapping into the Gulf Stream's energy-dense waters. A field of underwater turbines moored 1,000 ft below the surface in the center of the Gulf Stream could - by drawing from its 8 billion gallons per minute flow rate - provide as much energy as several nuclear plants.
Image courtesy of NPR's Greg Allen
Driscoll and his colleagues plan on testing out a small prototype turbine early next year, after which - if things work out as anticipated - they will deploy several full-sized ones. During their trial period, they plan on addressing two potential issues: the so-called "Cuisinart effect" (his term) - which occurs when fish get caught and chopped up by the whirring turbines - and whether the turbines will impact the Gulf Stream's power and flow. While he doesn't believe either is likely to happen, Driscoll emphasizes that they remain possibilities that need to be monitored.
The big energy pay-off, however, may yet lie in another source that has caught Driscoll's eye - ocean thermal energy, which used to produce electricity by tapping into the temperature difference between cold deep water and warm surface water. "That ocean thermal resource is probably the largest renewable energy source available anywhere," he said.
Via ::NPR: Harnessing the Power of the Gulf Stream (radio program)
See also: ::Great Video of Underwater Turbines Being Installed, ::1.2 MegaWatts: World's Largest Tidal Turbine To Be Installed, ::Wave Power Update: Retrospective
Isn't it so that the gulf stream is already slowing down? And wouldn't this slow it down more?
Just like wind turbines slow down the wind right?
Couldn't they just put cages around the the turbines? I guess they would want to test it first, though, to see if it's necessary to spend the money on that..
The turbines won't slow down the gulf stream, but global climate chaos may kill the stream when Greenland melting interrupts the forces that cause the stream in the first place.
I wonder if these will lead to a more rigid thermocline. This may not be a bad thing, because, although that will make land temperatures higher, it will also have a cooling effect on the deeper layers of water. If global warming effects are relatively more pronounced on land, in the area where they most effect humans, humans may be more quickly motivated to mitigate their emissions. A more stratified thermocline would make the subsequent bounceback occur more quickly.
Objects - including wind turbines - slow wind speed near the surface of the earth, think of it as friction. So I think Bram could have a better understanding than Jilted...
Wouldn't Florida get better value from solar - there being rather a lot of sunshine there .
Seems greener tha messing with the gulf stream...
@weee recycling
I don't think you have a very comprehensive grasp of fluid dynamics. While it is correct to say that objects impose a shear force on convecting fluids, the effect is likely negligible when compared to the shear force of the already present ground/ocean floor. Suffice it to say, it would require a hell of a lot of construction on the ocean floor to significantly impact the gulf stream.
I completely agree with ndefores. These devices will have no significant impact on Gulf Stream flow. The amount of construction and number of devices required to make a real dent in the flow is beyond imagination. Global warming (or destabilization - my favorite) will do many hundreds of times more damage to the flow than a massive buildup of these devices - as one commenter astutely pointed out: massive Greenland icecap melting is theoretically expected to greatly slow, possibly stop, the Gulf Stream movement from the US to Europe. Better to put the devices to try to prevent global warming than to forgo of these devices.
Another comment I have is about the fish. I think it little likely that the blades would spin fast enough - since the water flow does not move at such high speeds - to make it impossible for fish to be able to react quickly enough to the moving blades. And even if schools of fish were somehow damaged in number, or even individual larger predatory fish, the simple fact that large areas of offshore marine habitat - those areas where the devices are located - would then become off-limits to deep sea fish trawling would greatly increase numbers of all types of fish, more than offsetting any damage that the devices might do themselves. Futhermore, it should be possible to fit the devices with simple electrical warning signals to scare off fish from getting too close.
I would think one of the larger issues would be bio-fouling and routine maintenance of the structures.
I would think one of the larger issues would be bio-fouling and routine maintenance of the structures.
Holy coocoo alert! We're going to slow the ocean down!!! Just when I think I've heard it all, you loonies throw me a curve ball. Yea, just like the wacky packs who claimed that every rocket launch and plane takeoff was "draining the planet's gravity". We're doomed.
This is a good idea overall, making use of what is ESSENTIALLY (not entirely, but close enough) an inexhaustible supply of energy. There's no danger to "slowing down the Gulf Stream" here--yes some energy is being extracted but by comparison it's a very small amount. This type of energy production is extremely clean as well, so this very much seems like a win-win.
Not sure if it'll compete cost-wise with more conventional methods, but it seems a reasonable investment and the costs might work out.
I say, go for it Florida!
how will this effect sea life such as dauphins?
Energy extracted here from the gulfstream is equal to a fart in a hurricane.
My structures professor at Tulane, Bill Mouton, designed a turbine for the Gulf Stream in the 1970s. I guess he was ahead of his time. The islans of Sark in the Channel Islands is planning to become a net exporter of electricity using the extreme tidal flow in that area. The energy of these tidal streams is immense, and the neighbors won't complain about how they look.
I understand the whole wind turbines kill birds flak because who wants to eat a dead pigeon - but hey! We're talking seafood here!
Bring'em on and make the leading blade edges as sharp as possible! I'm having shark tonight!
The economics of this technology is largely unknown, and solar thermal will eventually provide most, if not all of Florida's alternative energy. Wind power and photovoltaic are doomed technolgies that have made not a whit of difference and never will. Non-dispatchable technologies have no place on a power grid - they require exorbitantly expensive duplication of power geenration due to their almost complete inability to provide reliable power, especially during critical peak demand periods. I opose any govt subsidies for these failed technologies that only benefit the international wind and photovoltaic manufacturing industry and those
companies making a fortune collecting those subsidies.
ArthurGlen, (although old news now) I have to pick fault with your argument calling wind and photovoltaics doomed technologies. I agree entirely that the output from these systems can be very variable, but in the case of PV, this means that peak power output often happily coincides with peak usage of energy due to energy intensive air conditioning.
The fact that winter storms are a great time to be producing wind power also often happens to coincide with spikes in energy use during these cold periods.
By using a variety of technologies appropriate to local conditions, they can complement each other beautifully, pollution is minimized, and reliability is ensured.