Category: Hydrokinetics
Hydrokinetics Has Great Potential to Provide Clean Energy
| September 10, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
Hydrokinetics is quite an appealing subject; here’s why: huge masses of water are moving all around us more or less constantly, in our ocean tides and other predictable currents, as well as in our large rivers — and rightfully, these have been the subjects of most R&D in the arena.
Until I received a call from a fellow in Northwestern Spain the other day, I had never considered the hydrokinetic potential represented by waterfalls and steep rapids. Obviously, here’s a case where a great deal of energy is released in a concentrated space; that’s certainly a good thing. But how can one extract that energy in an inexpensive, eco-friendly, and aesthetic manner?
Well, sadly, the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) I signed prohibits me from answering that question publicly. But I am convinced that there is, in fact, a way to do it, and I encourage potential investors to write in, sign the same NDA I did, and determine for themselves if they think this thing has legs. I believe most of them will agree with me, that this idea has great potential if it’s pursued diligently and professionally.
Hydrokinetics: Clean Energy Business Plans Based on Hydro
| August 16, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
Here’ s a short presentation on hydrokinetics, in particular, a few clean energy business plans that are based on run-of-river, ocean current, wave, tidal, ocean thermal, etc. This is of particular interest to me as I go about recommending a solution for my friends in Bermuda, which doesn’t really have the land mass to support some of the other renewable energy technolgies.
[The Vector] Looking at Hydrokinetics: American Hydropower
| May 8, 2011 | Posted by Kathy-Heshelow under Hydrokinetics |
What’s going on in the U.S. with Hydropower?
The Departments of Energy (DOE) and the Interior announced this month, in April 2011, that $26.6 million in funding to advance hydropower technology has been designated. The studies will focus on innovative and efficient systems that reduce costs and increase renewable power generation at sites not previously considered. This fits in with finding solutions for the aggressive plan to meet 80% of U.S. energy by 2035.
HydroWorld — Breaking News on Hydrokinetics
| December 14, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
As I’ve covered in a few of the reports published here at 2GreenEnergy, notably the “Three Brass Tacks of Renewable Energy,” I’m a partner in a company with a unique approach to run-of-river hydro called Hydrokinetic Laboratories. The company’s founder and majority owner is working hard to secure the required financing to build a prototype and take the idea forward.
In the meanwhile, I notice a great deal of exciting work being done in this space. And here’s a website, HydroWorld, whose purpose is to highlight breaking news in the arena; it’s owned by Pennwell, the folks who have so successfully supported RenewableEnergyWorld.com, one of the most professional groups to grace the clean energy industry.
[The Vector] Harnessing the Ocean for Energy: the New Frontier?
| September 17, 2010 | Posted by Kathy-Heshelow under Hydrokinetics |
The world’s oceans are a new frontier in the renewable energy world. Ocean energy is emerging and will be ‘make or break’ in the next five years, says the firm Pike Research that focuses on research and analysis of renewable energies. “The ocean energy business is right on the cusp,” says Pike’s managing director Clint Wheelock. He says more than 300 projects and tests are in the works around the world. (Press release, Pike Research. “Ocean Energy Could Reach up to 200 Gigawatts of Power Generation by 2025.” January 19, 2010.)
A researcher at Frost and Sullivan, another market research firm, agrees. “It is projected that commercialization of wave and tidal energy will take place in the next 5-10 years as the technology evolves and production costs decline,” notes Frost’s Technical Research Associate Chin Wai Loon. “Wave and tidal energy are expected to be deployed on a commercial Read More
[The Vector] Ocean Energy Projects – An International Sampling
| September 15, 2010 | Posted by Kathy-Heshelow under Hydrokinetics |
The Vector recently ran a story on the potential of ocean energy. Following up on that story, The Vector is reporting on some international ocean energy projects that are being installed, tested or are in operation. A further story on domestic projects will follow in the days to come. Ocean energy includes wave energy, ocean current energy, tidal energy, offshore wind, ocean thermal gradient energy, hydrogen production and more.
** Norway’s Statoil is testing the world’s first floating wind turbine called Hywind, a 2.3 MW Siemens turbine moored to the deepwater seabed. The head of New Energy at Statoil said that Hywind is really in research and development stage. “If we succeed, then we will have taken a major step in moving the wind power industry offshore. Floating wind turbines can make a major contribution…” (Press Release, Statoil.)
[The Vector] Hydropower Improvement Act of 2010
| September 4, 2010 | Posted by Kathy-Heshelow under Hydrokinetics |
The National Hydropower Association (NHA) released a statement on July 13th 2010 praising introduction of a bipartisan bill by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mike Crapo )R-ID) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The statement thanked the Senators who “…show great vision in turning to hydropower to provide clean, reliable, domestic energy generation, while also creating jobs in every state in the country – in fact, the measure will help create 1.4 million cumulative jobs over the next 14 years.”
The NHA hopes that the bill will help hydropower in the upcoming Energy Bill and in policymaking, which should include long-term incentives for project development.
[The Vector] Ocean Energy Projects – A Domestic Sampling
| August 22, 2010 | Posted by Kathy-Heshelow under Hydrokinetics |
The Vector has written about Ocean Energy in earlier posts. Today we highlight some exciting domestic projects.
** The first U.S. Wave Energy farm launched a test program this spring in Oregon. Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is running the test program, with floating buoys that harness the natural up and down movement of the waves. The ebb and flow movement causes the pump to move in a circular motion which drives an electric generator, with energy sent to shore through submerged cables. This farm is being financed by Oregon tax credits, Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative and the U.S. Department of Energy.
** Verdant Power initiated the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project in New York City’s East River. It is a three phase project. Phase 1 (2002-2006) was proto-type testing, and Phase 2 (2006-2008) was demonstration. Currently it is in Phase 3 (2009-2012) with the MW Scale build out. Verdant operated six full-scale turbines, which successfully demonstrated the Free Flow System turbines as being Read More
About Brian Polagye, Contributor to “Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies” – Hydrokinetics
| August 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
The University of Washington’s Dr. Brian Polagye contributed to the book’s chapter on hydrokinetics.
His work focuses on responsibly harnessing the kinetic energy in moving water, in particular, developing a better understanding of the practically recoverable resource for tidal streams. He says, “There is no one energy solution that gets you all the way there. I mean, you wouldn’t legitimately expect to replace all the power we currently consume with a single source like in-stream river hydrokinetics. That being said, I think that river, tidal, wave, ocean current, all of these can make a valuable contribution, either nationally or regionally, to the electric grid. So I think it’s important not to discard an idea simply because it doesn’t solve all of our problems.”
Energy Policy and Land Use
| June 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
The migration to renewable energy is complicated by a great number of factors in the renewable energy “triumvirate” -technological, economic, and political. The chart below shows one of many different dimensions of this complexity: land use – which, when you think about it, touches on all three. The data in the chart is derived from:
1) a paper titled Alternative Energy and Land Use from Clinton Andrews et al.
2) land intensiveness data from McDonald et al (2009)
3) land area data from Melillo et al (2009), and
4) global energy demand data from EIA
