Tidal Forces To Power 200,000 Homes

[Kor37 9]

Tidal Forces to Power 200,000 Homes

Posted Mar 17th 2008 4:27PM by Tim Stevens

Filed under: Green Tech

 

Environmental concerns and the escalating cost of oil worldwide has resulted in huge gains in the various fields of "alternative" energy production. People are proposing to extract power from just about every natural force on the planet, and, while wind has been getting much of the buzz lately, an upcoming installation in South Korea promises to power 200,000 homes from sea currents.

 

The plan entails sinking 300 60-foot-high turbines off the coast, deep enough where they won't be able to be struck by ships and in a place where the swelling and reclining tides will spin their blades. Tests are beginning early next year with a single turbine, but it's not expected that the other 299 will be fully up to speed until around 2015.

 

If all goes well, this could certainly provide an alternative to the controversial plans for putting in wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod. These turbines would be completely hidden under-water, but we can't help but wonder just what would happen to any fish unlucky enough to get sucked through one ...

 

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.switched...-forces-425.jpg

 

 

Aside from the problem of fish getting sucked in, this sounds like a great idea!

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I love stories of ingenuity and resourcefulness