Tidal power: Difference between revisions

Tidal Power: Using specially designed turbines to generate power through the movement and energy of the tides. Tidal power is only viable in coastal perimeter areas where the current speeds exceed 1.2 meters per second, however most current speeds throughout the ocean do not exceed 0.1 meters per second.^[1] Viable speeds for turbine energy production occur in few spots around the world. The only areas where high current speeds are possible are areas of turbulent seas where currents are pushed through channels between land masses. Some such places are the Orkney Islands north of Scotland, the northern coast of Australia, and the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. However, there is some controversy over installing tidal farms in these areas because of the rich marine ecosystems that prosper from the high current speeds. Many of these areas are breeding grounds for marine life because the nutrients spread by the high currents strongly benefit oceanic species. If such tidal turbine farms were installed in these areas they have the potential to disrupt marine life by throwing off certain currents and killing fish that pass through them. Turbines kill 80% of fish that come into contact with them. ^[2]

     Planning and development of these tidal energy farms is extremely costly. A Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equation can be computed to figure out proper placement of the turbines on the sea floor but this operation is extremely expensive and small time developments cannot afford to do this. [3]  Metal turbines do not generally fare well under the ocean because fatigue caused by the currents and salinity have large strains on metal. Installation of these turbines can also cost millions of dollars and retrieval for maintenance can be just as costly. [4]