The Future of Wave Power
With approximately eighty percent of our energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, still being manufactured from fossil fuels that release pollutants to the air such as greenhouse gasses that include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and methane, it is not a bad idea to consider some alternative energy options like wave power. What is wave power? It is the harnessing of power of the ocean’s waves by using the momentum of the waves to power a turbine. There are several models that are effective for it’s respective region. The potential of this option is great because of the vastness of the ocean and how it could very well be an inexhaustible source for the future.
To produce more energy efficiently, there are several models designed to absorb as much energy as possible. One example includes the oscillating water column. This model has two openings, one on the bottom for the water to enter and another narrow passage that allows air in and out a chamber that contains a turbine. The water comes from the bottom and pressurizes air, forcing it to go through the narrow passage spinning the turbine. When the water is on its way out, the air comes out through the narrow passage thus spinning the turbine again. Another one is an overtopping device. This device is a reservoir where there is an opening on the top for a turbine outlet. It is meant for when the waves topple over the reservoir the water goes down the opening which, in turn spins the turbine. The Pelamis sea snake are “snake-like” buoys that are tethered together with rotation devices that use the wave’s horizontal force to produce rotation energy.
Will Thomas at Stanford University said “it is estimated that between 2000 and 4000 te...
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...rth/oceanography/wave-energy.htm> 09 December 2013
3) Hydrokinetic Electric,”Hydrokinetic Electric Power Generation,” 2009, c2es.org, Dec 09 2013
4)Thomas, Will. “Economic Analysis of Wave Energy Extraction” Dec 13, 2012, large.stanford.edu. Dec 09, 2013
5) Maggio, Rick. “Wave Energy” Oceanenergycouncil.com Dec 09, 2013
6)World Coal Association, “Coal & Electricity” worldcoal.org, Dec 09, 2013
7)Beer, Janos. “Fossil Fuel Power Plant” May 17, 2010. eoearth.org, Dec 09, 2013
8) Dec 09, 2013
Its most known process of generating electricity would be movement of air through wind turbines. Wind power has two parts, mechanical and electrical systems. Mechanical systems are low speed and are used for mechanical tasks such as pumping water or grinding grain. Electrical systems are high speed and are used to generate electricity to power homes or schools. Many people feel that wind farms full of turbines, are aesthetically unpleasing, but wind power is a clean energy source and does not generate greenhouse gas emissions. It is a very abundant resource throughout the United States. Wind power is simple, relatively cheap, and low maintenance (Sambu). Wind power is again, free and very abundant so no matter how much we use now, we will still obtain enough in the
Christopher Benfey’s work The Great Wave is a narrative driven by a collection of accounts, stories and curious coincidences tying together The Gilded Age of New England in particular with interactions and connections to the Japan of old and new. In the context of The Great Wave, Benfey's own personal journey to Japan at the age of sixteen should be understood. Embarking on this voyage to learn traditional writing, language and Judo, his story can also be seen as a not only a historical continuation, but also a personal precursor to the vignettes he discovers and presents to the reader.
Spiegal, Jan E. "Unsound Proposal?: Concern On The Coast, Classical Conflict Again Unfolds: Energy vs. Environment." Hartford Courant 16 Oct. 2005, 3 Stars/Final ed., sec. A. Bigchalk Database. 8 Nov. 2005.
In those two hundred years it has been estimated that anywhere from 200,000 to 9,000,000 peop...
“A wind turbine is a machine for converting the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy”. (1) The inventor of the first electric wind turbine was Clevelander Charles Brush, who ran his entire Euclid Avenue mansion off of one for 20 years, which later made the cover of Scientific American in 1888. (2) Although the use of alternate energy didn't rise a great deal afterward, this event did open the eyes for many environmentalists. Wind power is only one of our several “energy source[s] whose ‘fuel’ is free and will never be exhausted” (3) with the pros and cons not completely weighed out as to whether it will be truly beneficial or not. The two main issues regarding wind turbines are the environmental effects that they have and the cost effectiveness of building them.
We can build better or secure energy future by different methods. For example by the search for renewable energy sources, now the world relies heavily on fossil fuels (oil, natural gas or coal). And we know that fossil fuels are non-renewable. The resources of these fossil fuels are limited and these resources are started to abundant. So we need such fuel or sources of energy which are infinite or renewable easily. The need for clean and sustainable energy sources is quite evident, since fossil fuels have a number of drawbacks: such as emissions of greenhouse gases, depletion of finite sources, and dependence on a few oil-exporting regions in the world. Current energy conversion techniques that are considered to be sustainable include solar, wind, biomass, and hydro energy. There are other sources of sustainable energy including, but not limited to tidal power, ocean wave power, and ocean thermal energy conversion. A significant potential to obtain clean energy exists from mixing water streams with different salt concentrations. This salinity-gradient energy, also called Blue Energy, is available worldwide where fresh water streams flow into the sea. The global energy output from estuaries is estimated at 2.6 TW, which represents approximately 20% of the present worldwide energy demand. Large amounts of blue energy can also be made available from natural or industrial salt brines.
In everyday life, there are things that one needs to survive. And sustainability problems arise every day. One such problem is energy loss. The world is using up a lot of energy and new ideas need to be formed to help the rest of the world and the future of the generations that are to follow, to survive. With that the problem is that people use up energy and they do not use it efficiently. Therefore scientists are needed to find ways to deal with the sustainability problem that is arising. That is where wind turbines are used to generate this energy but the actual wind-turbines are very large, loud and they kill birds, thus new designs need to be found in order to help energy usage and to bring the size and structure of the wind turbines to a smaller scale to prevent injuries to nature and the species around it.
Offshore wind turbines will provide more jobs, cut pollution, stop warming on our planet, and save us energy costs. These wind turbines can generate enough energy offshore to power about 500,000 homes. However, many people disagree with this idea because they believe it is too expensive. Offshore wind turbines have been a topic of discussion for a while now, and people just simply can’t agree. There are the supporters and there are the problem makers, as well as the advantages and disadvantages to this idea.
"The Future of Hydropower." Macalester College: Private Liberal Arts College. Web. 03 Oct. 2011. .
Urban area has been defined as a terrain with a population of 50,000 or a bunch of 2,500 to 50,000 people according to the US Census Bureau. Rural is later defined as anything external to that definition. Particular challenges are faced by rural areas when matter is of energy and water usage. For instance, utilities have to pay higher costs to modernize their energy groundwork and often find it stiffer to implement cleaner technologies because of the great distances between customers and crooked patchwork of reliable resources. Moreover, many system organizers and thought leaders for ground breaking energy know how live in suburban or urban areas and may discover it tougher to relate to the particular challenges of rural locations.
Delucchi, Mark A., and Mark Z. Jacobson. "Meeting the World's Energy Needs with Wind, Water, and Solar Power." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (2013): 31-40. Web.
Hydroelectric power seizes the buoyancy released from descending water. Two thousand years ago, Ancient Greeks utilized wooden water wheels to convert kinetic energy into mechanical energy because that’s all they had back then. However, in 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant was constructed in the United States using a fast flowing river. During that time, humans began to build dams to reserve water at the most suitable places or areas in order to best apply the power capacity. Engineering and structural changes have been increased in designing a more efficient hydroelectric power plant, but in order for that to happen they had to go through a very difficult process which can cause much conflict. (http://www.ems.psu.edu/~elsworth/courses/cause2003/finalprojects/vikingpaper.pdf)
The wind is an incredibly valuable renewable energy source and is in the forefront of renewable energy developments. It is used to convert wind energy into energy that can be harnessed and used via a variety of methods, including; wind turbines, windmills, sails and windpumps. For a renewable energy source, however, it is wind turbines that are used to generate electricity (see figure 1). Wind power has been used for this since the end of the nineteenth century, after Professor James Blyth of the Royal College of Science and Technology first attempted it (Boyle, 2012). However, It wasn’t until the 1980s that using wind power technology was sufficient enough to experience a rapid growth of the technology.
The Wind Turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of the wind into kinetic energy of turbines. The turbines turn to generate electricity but they work only when there is wind. The efficiency is 30-40%. The environmental impacts are needs many large turbines to generate electricity which can be noisy and unsightly. Turbines may endanger birds and bats.
Deal, W. (n.d.). Wind power: An emerging energy resource.Technology & Engineering Teacher, 70(1), 9-15. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=a747d6c4-9f9f-4066-be3e-d7d26a427ef2@sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=114&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjcGlkJmN1c3RpZD1zc2Mmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU=