New renewable energy sources are popping up all the time and are coming more and more into our consciousness as well as being firmly set as something to address on the new Government's agenda. There are many forms of large scale renewable energy that countries around the world are looking into but here's a look at tidal energy and how it's progressing.
Tides are the rising and falling of the ocean's water level and are the result of the gravitational pull on the Earth as it rotates created by the sun and moon. The main reason that tidal energy is something being considered by Government's worldwide is that the tides never stop. Harnessing their energy would mean a constant and predictable source but at the moment there are very few places in the world that do.
The world's first tidal power station, Rance Tidal Power Plant, opened in France in 1966 and after over 50 years it is still the world's largest. The Annapolis Tidal Generating System run by Novia Scotia Power is the only tidal power station in the USA and is situated on the Annapolis River. Here the plant takes advantage of the highest tides in the world at the Bay of Fundy to generate power. The world's third largest plant is the Jiangxia Tidal Power Station however, South Korea are currently in the process of constructing numerous tidal plants that will each generate double the amount of energy than any current tidal power station!
There are other forms of technology that can harness energy from the tides other than the more traditional techniques. A relatively new technology uses open-centre turbines that are placed on the sea floor, this recent invention is the first turbine that will actually sit below the ocean's surface and unlike previous technologies don't require a dam to be built. Their design minimizes impact on the environment and they were first deployed in the Bay of Fundy to mixed success and will be tested further next year.
Tides are the rising and falling of the ocean's water level and are the result of the gravitational pull on the Earth as it rotates created by the sun and moon. The main reason that tidal energy is something being considered by Government's worldwide is that the tides never stop. Harnessing their energy would mean a constant and predictable source but at the moment there are very few places in the world that do.
The world's first tidal power station, Rance Tidal Power Plant, opened in France in 1966 and after over 50 years it is still the world's largest. The Annapolis Tidal Generating System run by Novia Scotia Power is the only tidal power station in the USA and is situated on the Annapolis River. Here the plant takes advantage of the highest tides in the world at the Bay of Fundy to generate power. The world's third largest plant is the Jiangxia Tidal Power Station however, South Korea are currently in the process of constructing numerous tidal plants that will each generate double the amount of energy than any current tidal power station!
There are other forms of technology that can harness energy from the tides other than the more traditional techniques. A relatively new technology uses open-centre turbines that are placed on the sea floor, this recent invention is the first turbine that will actually sit below the ocean's surface and unlike previous technologies don't require a dam to be built. Their design minimizes impact on the environment and they were first deployed in the Bay of Fundy to mixed success and will be tested further next year.
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