Tike 0Generating electricity w Underwater Turbines
Kit
energy technology. IT is one with great potential and few negatives.
Turbines can be used in streams, ocean currents (ie Gulg Stream) as
well as make electricity from tidal action. Imagine, instead of damns
(which rapidly fill with sediment and swamp land) that there could be
a series of turbines hidden under the water that do not disturb the
ecosystem or view generating power locally - say along the
Mississippi, the Colorado, The Columbia or the Susquehanna and
Delaware Rivers. Power is lost to friction in long lines so it would
be more efficient as well.
Keys resident hopes to tap ocean's power
Posted on Tue, Nov. 13, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
BY CAMMY CLARK
ccl...@MiamiHerald.com
CAMMY CLARK/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Douglas Bedgood does a public service ad at Bahia Honda bridge, near a
planned tidal farm.
Audio | Interview with inventor Douglas Bedgood
Animation | Harnessing the tides
THIS IS COOL! http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/hydro/index.html
KEY WEST -- Douglas Bedgood recently stood on a defunct Henry Flagler
railroad bridge, watching as the tide forcefully moved water from the
Gulf of Mexico through a channel to the Atlantic Ocean.
What he saw was untapped energy. Enough tidal power, he believes, to
light and cool every residence and business in the Lower Keys.
To capture that power and convert it to electricity, Bedgood founded
Florida Keys Hydro Power Research Corp. in July. The nonprofit is
working to put underwater tidal turbine farms in the Keys' channels.
''People have been talking about this for a long time: Why not use the
tides?'' said Bedgood, 65. ``But everybody was waiting for government
or somebody else to do it. So it never got done.''
Bedgood, a massage therapist who has developed aquatic therapy devices
and tried to build a wind farm in California in the 1970s, said his
motive is green -- but not for the color of money: ``I want to do my
part to save the planet.''
Two months ago, 25 engineers, politicians, government regulators and
environmentalists crammed into his home on Love Lane in Key West to
hear about the pioneering project.
''It may sound like a fairy tale, but it's too important for our
environment not to try,'' said former Monroe County Mayor Shirley
Freeman, chairman of Keys Hydro Power.
The goal: to clump enough turbines together -- at least 300 -- to
create 160 megawatts of electricity while doing virtually no damage to
the channel site or its marine life, part of Florida Keys National
Marine Sanctuary.
At peak usage, the Lower Keys uses 140 megawatts.
''Now none of our power is green; it comes from a mix of natural gas,
nuclear and coal plants,'' said Julio Barroso, spokesman for public
utility Keys Energy Service. ``We're looking for green and renewable
energy. This seems like a good idea to our board.''
The first major step is getting the test turbine, dubbed ''the
football'' because of its shape, into Bahia Honda Channel near mile
marker 36. The turbine has four 4 ½-foot-long paddles on each end to
capture the tides going in and out. It will be anchored on hard sea
bottom where there's scattered small corals and no sea grass and where
the water is as much as 30 feet deep so it would not interrupt
navigation, Bedgood said.
''We know it will work to get power,'' said project manager Steve
French of Stuart-based Applied Concepts Unleashed. ``The question is
how much can we get and how efficiently can we get it?''
WORLDWIDE PUSH
With skyrocketing oil prices, the Iraq war and global warming
awareness, there's been a worldwide push to harness the clockwork
power of the tides.
''There are 81 [tidal] technologies internationally being looked at,
with 14 in the United States,'' said Sean O'Neill, president of the
Maryland-based Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition. ``The potential is
tremendous. But we have to get these projects into the water and get
real data.''
The first turbine for commercial use, the SeaGen, is expected to be
submerged in waters off North Ireland within months.
''We've got to get some momentum going in this country,'' said
researcher Roger Bedard of the California-based Electric Power
Research Institute. ``We've had government funding to investigate
solar, geothermal, wind, biomass -- all the renewable technologies --
except ocean energy. Zero funding on ocean energy in the last 20
years.''
That may soon change. Earlier this month the Bush administration
announced plans to tap into the ocean's potential as a source for
alternative energy.
There are currently some private U.S. projects, including one using
the Gulf Stream at Florida Atlantic University. Last year, Verdant
Power put the first test turbines into U.S. waters, in New York
Harbor.
Keys Hydro Power has applied for permits with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to
install its test unit.
Spokesmen for both offices said they are awaiting feedback from other
agencies but see no major snags. Bedgood is hoping to get the permits
by early next year.
French said the first test would run 60 days, with data being
collected for performance and environmental impact. Major issues
include the downtime created by the tides' natural cycles and the
potential hurricanes.
Many also are concerned that fish, manatees and sea turtles could be
harmed.
''It's not a Cuisinart,'' Freeman said.
The propellers move at the speed of the tides, a maximum of about 30
revolutions per minute. But while they move slowly, much energy can be
created through gearing, French said.
Kinetic Energy Systems founder Darwin Salls Sr. worked 14 years on the
turbine design, which has a 14-by-6-foot hull to house a 100-kilowatt
generator.
Each turbine is a mini power plant, to be linked by cable under the
seabed. A main cable would run to a nearby substation, where
electricity would be transmitted to the islands' main grid.
If all goes well with the test, it's still just a start. Installing an
entire farm, which would occupy about a half-square mile of sea
bottom, would require more stringent approval from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission.
FLORIDA COMPANIES
The evolving project has a Florida team that includes test turbine
designer Kinetic Energy Systems of Ocala, turbine installers Ralco
Atlantic of Key West, substation builder Power Consulting Associates
of Gainesville and generator supplier Fisher Technologies of St.
Petersburg.
While the tides are free, producing energy from them is not.
Each turbine is expected to cost about $100,000. Bedgood said it will
cost millions for the cable system and substation. To date, he has
provided most of the financing for his end of the project, which he
expects will cost about $15 million to get the first 10 turbines up
and running. He's searching for private charitable contributors.
But ultimately, Bedgood thinks electricity from tidal power will be 25
percent cheaper to produce than from fossil fuels.
''The Florida Keys is a good place to try our first test,'' said
Darwin Salls Jr., spokesman for Kinetic Energy Systems. ``It's a
progressive place that is ready to lead the way to be energy free and
a green community.''
The Web site for Bedgood's company is www.keyshydropower.com.
Kit
On Nov 14, 9:42 am, Kit <llam3...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> I have long wondered why this has been the orphan of alternative
> energy technology. IT is one with great potential and few negatives.
> Turbines can be used in streams, ocean currents (ie Gulg Stream) as
> well as make electricity from tidal action. Imagine, instead of damns
> (which rapidly fill with sediment and swamp land) that there could be
> a series of turbines hidden under the water that do not disturb the
> ecosystem or view generating power locally - say along the
> Mississippi, the Colorado, The Columbia or the Susquehanna and
> Delaware Rivers. Power is lost to friction in long lines so it would
> be more efficient as well.
>
> Keys resident hopes to tap ocean's power
> Posted on Tue, Nov. 13, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
> BY CAMMY CLARK
> ccl...@MiamiHerald.com
>
> CAMMY CLARK/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
> Douglas Bedgood does a public service ad at Bahia Honda bridge, near a
> planned tidal farm.
> Audio | Interview with inventor Douglas Bedgood
> Animation | Harnessing the tides
> THIS IS COOL!http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/hydro/index.html
fastfeat
back about a Palm Beach or Martin Co. company getting some grant to do
the same off the Atlantic. Personally, I think the key to this (and to
other renewable sources) is research funding to get this stuff going.
It's pathetic that we still subsidize the poor little oil companies
with tax breaks while these sorts of promising technologies go
wanting. Not that I want to socialize all the energy industry;
however, the taxation system, IMHO, is THE real reason we don't have
solar panels on our roofs and more turbines on land and in the water.
But hey, Shrub's just looking out for his cronies in the oil industry
at the expense of cleaner ones. Props to him for putting up some
money; I'm sure it's not enough though...
SheKong
I agree that we aren't funding enough research. I also think we aren't
supporting the alternative technologies we have. We have gravity feed
water and could easily set up a good hydro system. The only worry
would be the dry season, which would mean we'd need a solar system as
well. Too fiddley and expensive for us. However, why can't I set up a
hydro system and feed excess energy into the grid for when I need it?
I think there needs to a banking system with power.
Ann
aroideana
hydro-electric plant further up Tully Gorge .
It has been generating power for about 50 years . Green power along
the great green way .,
>
> - Show quoted text -
Kit
storage system for after dark. That probably would also apply to the
lag time between tides. Batteries are improving but they are big and
heavy still.. Looks like nanotechnology may be the ticket there from
occasional things I read - though I can't give chapter and verse. This
is where water stream and wind are interesting. They flow day and
night - at least during a long season.
I don't know that much about electricity but I just read about it a
lot so thought I would share a few points I have learned if it
interests anyone..
Ann, if you were to send your excess electricity into the grid - you
are right - the power company could use it and they could deduct from
your bill when you use more than you can supply for yourself. The
problem is that they can't store it for the dry season because power
companies do not have storage capacity. But the producers of
alternative energy have to have storage capacity - including a home
grown off the grid system.
Electricity is lost through friction in wires so the further you send
it the more inefficient it is. That means (even though power
companies have huge grids that extend for thousands of miles) it gets
more costly the further away the generation is from the usage.
OK, so here is the beauty of water and wind if it is used locally
where there is an abundance of same.
Any homeowner could theoretically build their own water generator.
They do not have to be large. We should be able to buy kits one of
these days (some entrepreneur out there?) and put them together
according to our needs. If you have a little fast flowing stream you
could sink a string of mini-turbines in it.
Windmills are large and a much bigger deal to construct but just 1
can produce a lot of power in an area with a steady wind above 7 knts
(down from 15).
Heck, water power is really old fashioned - except we used to use the
power directly such as to grind grain or turn a machine instead of to
convert it into electricity. A wheel would work but the old fashioned
type were designed to drive a heavy tool so they were big and
inefficient.
On a small scale I had a neighbor who had a remote cabin up in the
mountains in Montana. He built a conduit from a stream to carry water
to a little generator he built. Dual purpose because it also brought
water to the house. Not very efficient but it could run a couple
lights but not enough to run an AC or frig.
This new generation of generators (there seem to be quite a few
competitive models but they are mostly privately produced like the one
described here) could be put in series in a stream - any stream
including the water flowing off your roof. If it is not used as it is
produced it would need to be stored in batteries - usually like the
ones in golf carts. It also needs to be converted (with an inverter)
from DC to AC as needed but you can run your lap top or recharge
anything else that runs on DC.
Anyway, there are companies out there producing all sorts of off the
grid systems. But I get what your husband means. Most of us don't want
to have to do the fiddling and fixing if the system doesn't work and
we don't have time or inclination to take classes to learn about it
either. But I would not be surprised if local companies won't start to
offer the service with the costs of petrol rising rapidly - or maybe
getting cut off should this war in the Middle East escalate..
>
> read more >>- Hide quoted text -
tabb...@gmail.com
source. I'd caution though about the idea that they have no negative
impact....
Things like the power generation between thermal layers in the ocean
would be disruptive to the normal flow of ocean waters. The gulf
stream, for instance, is simply the most visible part of a large
circulatory system (stream starts in the gulf, goes up to the Artic,
sinks, travels along the seafloor, returns to the gulf... loops)
These loops have important consequences towards weather, nutrient
levels... If you tap the temperature gradent on a big scale you end
up blunting the mechanism of the current itself. Also to tap the
thermal gradient you need a big outlay to get a small return.
Capturing the tides might have less of an impact, be easier... but I
don't think we should rush into things thinking that they are a
panacea. Certianly they are better than the mix we have now but...
In terms of the problems of capturing power and storing it- well that
has less to do with modern batteries than a lack of imagination on our
part. Aside from the standard galvanic electrochemical cells you can
store power in a myriad of other ways, for instance with compressed
gas or with an "unconvential battery" (I saw a show where they used
solar generated electricity to break down water, when they needed
power they burned the hydrogen (and collected the water which they
would break down with the solar power again and store till they needed
the power)) some of these have storage efficiencies far above that of
a conventional battery).