Over at NexGen, this week's question asks about the likelihood of embracing tidal power: a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity. Basically, we're talking wind turbines located where there's strong tidal flow. Sounds clean, and heck, I sure do like the ocean... but uh, I just don't see this becoming a major contender in our alternative energy future.
My full post is now up outlining many reasons why...
More like this
ideally, globular clusters are tidally truncated
since real tidal fields are not spherically symmetric and static
we expect time varying aspherical stripping and shocking, and
with relaxation additional diffusion outside the tidal boundary
"Even with all the collected data we cannot say with 100% certainty that the ASASSN-15lh event was a tidal disruption event. But it is by far the most likely explanation." -Giorgos Leloudas
"Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come together. Throw two planets into space, and they will fall one on the other.
The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction. -Gandhi
Last time, I spoke to you about how tides work on Earth.
Hi. One application of tidal/wave power that seems very sensible is having buoys with (Gorlov?) flow turbines at the mouth of bays, which convert the energy to pushing accumulated estuarine silts out to the ocean so they don't choke boat harbors, rather than using huge dredge barges to scrape out the channels and destroying the local marine ecosystem.
Windmill-like turbines underwater, pffft.
What about wave energy converters such as the Anaconda?