When I originally considered my focus for this assignment I decided to explore the efficiency of: wind turbine energy, static electricity and solar energy. My final research led me …show more content…
It has been around for many centuries; the flow of water through wind mills in early Rome was used to grind wheat into flour. Rivers and man-made dams have been a source of energy for years. Hoover Dam in Las Vegas, for example, uses water that passes through the turbines to generate hydroelectric power that saves the residents of California, Arizona and Nevada money on their electric bills. The energy generated by the Hoover Dam is enough to power 500,000 houses every year (Hoover).
The ocean represents 70% of the earth’s surface, harnessing the energy it produces has been a longtime goal of renewable energy researchers. In the past 10 years strides have been made toward the potential of this natural resource. According to environmental expert Dr. David Suzuki, “Tidal energy has one of the smallest footprints of any renewable resource” (Speer). Throughout the world many different prototypes have been developed to best address an efficient way to produce tidal energy.
In the Netherlands they have developed a barge system that stretches out from the coastal estuary like a tunnel with a T-shape head at its end. This hydraulic head along with the tunnel shape causes the many turbines to accelerate in the dam to produce tidal energy …show more content…
This tidal energy solution pose many issues, the potential harm to sea life, and the upkeep and maintenance of the underwater turbines, and the cost to construct are very expensive (Dennis).
President Obama has focus on ocean energy in the United States using above water wind turbines. The coast of Maryland was the area chosen for this project. Many wind energy companies all over the world battled to take on this project. US Wind Inc. beating out the competitors. Walter Cruickshank, acting director of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stated that the final bid was, “$8.7 million lease of an area off Maryland’s coast.” This project is in its infancy to produce above the ocean wind turbines farms (Loveless).
During my research of this assignment I believe I have found the most efficient prototype called the Davidson Hill Venturi Turbine. Founders of Tidal Energy Inc., Aaron Davidson and Craig Hill set out to invent an environmentally safe underwater shrouded turbine system that provides renewable, sustainable energy. The way their turbines work is quite simple; similar to a jet engine, instead of air it draws water in through its hydro foil system that turns a slow moving impeller (Davidson). The prototype is currently deployed on the Gold Coast of Australia. See figure A for a picture of the prototype