Posts Tagged by Hydrokinetics
More on Renewable Energy Infographics
| January 8, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
I’m working on another in our series of renewable energy infographics, to present the basic concepts in a way that’s immediately understandable for newcomers to the subject. My current project is writing up “The Pros and Cons of Renewables.” The main point: all forms of energy, clean or dirty, come with a certain financial and ecological cost.
One of the main challenges associated with the migration to “new energy” is infrastructure, as unfortunately, renewable resources tend to exist far from our population centers, which requires an expensive build-out of our electrical grid. This article on Hydrokinetics in Alaska is a case in point. They have 350,000 miles of roaring rivers and tides that are incredible. Southern California, whose population is 40 times that of Alaska, is as hungry for those resources as a bear, fresh out of hibernation, fishing for a salmon.
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Infographic – All Forms of Energy on Earth Came from the Big Bang
| December 4, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
As a part of our ongoing quest to produce “infographics” that lay out the basics of energy, I invite you to check out the chart here, presenting the notion that all the energy we harness and use here on Earth came to us indirectly from the Big Bang. Whether we’re talking about nuclear, fossil fuels, or the many different forms of renewables, those forms of energy have been made available to us via one of four different pathways through time and space since that event 13.7 billion years ago.
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The Basic Renewable Energy Technologies
| November 26, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
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Infographic – History of Renewable Energy InfoGraphic
| October 28, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
We at 2GreenEnergy are on a quest to introduce the basic concepts of renewable energy to newcomers to the field, and, to that end, we’ve begun to create a series of “infographics,” providing a few essential concepts at a glance. Here’s a one-pager we did, depicting a brief history of each of five main types of clean energy. We’re hoping that this puts a few central concepts into perspective for folks.
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Unique Approach to High Head Hydrokinetics — Investors Needed
| October 6, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
Here’s a short video in which I discuss a unique approach that applies nicely to hydrokinetics in high head conditions, e.g., waterfalls or steep rapids.
Does this scale to the point that it can replace terawatts of fossil fuels? Nope. But in the right conditions, it’s a wonderful solution, and thus, in my opinion, the company represents an interesting investment opportunity.
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Cyclo Ocean — Clever Start-up in Ocean-Current Hydrokinetics
| October 4, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
I just got off the phone with Paul Greyschock, from hydrokinetics start-up Cyclo Ocean in Vero Beach, FL. There were a couple of items that made this conversation noteworthy. First is the technology itself. If you check out the website, you’ll see immediately that a great number of the issues that thwart most attempts at tidal or ocean-current hydro are dealt with cleverly and inexpensively. In particular, note that the device is anchored to the seabed, not moored into it. Read More
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Cool Idea in Run-of-River Hydrokinetics
| September 27, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Hydrokinetics |
In this interview, I discuss a radical new approach to run-of-river hydrokinetics where the water is falling far over a short distance, e.g., a waterfall. The company’s solution is extremely straightforward and would be easy for a wily competitor to steal; it is for this reason that they play their cards very close to their vests, and have gone to an almost unimaginable extent to patent their IP internationally. Will anyone win here – besides the patent attorneys, that is? I believe so.
There are many sites around the world where this solution is perfect, and will produce totally clean power, 24/7/365 at an incredibly attractive rate in terms of levelized cost of energy (LCOE), meaning the average cost per kilowatt-hour when all factors are taken into consideration: the construction, the fuel, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning.
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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.
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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.
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[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.
