Green Options » ocean power http://greenoptions.com/tag/ocean-power Posts tagged 'ocean power' Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:55:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en Mining Hydrothermal Vents For Renewable Electricity, Drinking Water + Valuable Minerals http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/04/mining-hydrothermal-vents-for-renewable-electricity-drinking-water-valuable-minerals/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/04/mining-hydrothermal-vents-for-renewable-electricity-drinking-water-valuable-minerals/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:55:02 +0000 Susan Kraemer http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/04/mining-hydrothermal-vents-for-renewable-electricity-drinking-water-valuable-minerals/ Only after I snoozed my way through high school science class did science become more compelling than science fiction.

Back then, there was just no compelling reason to pay attention. Just a browzy fly buzzing in a smelly boring lab full of long agreed-upon dull principles that were really neither here nor there. In those days there were no colliding continents or hydrothermal vents or extremophile lifeforms. We looked to sci-fi for that.

Who knew that our planet would soon be busting at the seams with 7 billion of us. That our fossil fuel use would threaten our survival with climate changes — on a level unseen on the planet since Cyanobacteria made it safe it for oxygen-breathers 4 billion years ago.


 Or that we would not only discover vast strange heat sources under the ocean but that we’d actually consider mining these hydrothermal vents for renewable energy: That was the sort of story you’d only find in science fiction back then.

But yet, here we are. This is not science fiction:

Read more of this story »

]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/09/04/mining-hydrothermal-vents-for-renewable-electricity-drinking-water-valuable-minerals/feed/ DARPA Joins Blue Energy and World Energy in Race to Harness Ocean Power http://cleantechnica.com/2009/07/04/darpa-joins-blue-energy-and-world-energy-in-race-to-harness-ocean-power/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/07/04/darpa-joins-blue-energy-and-world-energy-in-race-to-harness-ocean-power/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:01:31 +0000 Tina Casey http://cleantechnica.com/2009/07/04/darpa-joins-blue-energy-and-world-energy-in-race-to-harness-ocean-power/ The power of the ocean appears limitless.

Is the world ready for another ambitious ocean power program?

Blue Energy Canada Inc. and World Energy Research are moving quickly in that direction.  After signing a memorandum of understanding last month, the two companies just announced a formal agreement to build a 200 megawatt, half-billion dollar commercial tidal power project based on Blue Energy’s Davis Tidal Turbine.  Meanwhile, DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been quietly working the other end of the scale to develop buoy-sized ocean power generating equipment.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/07/04/darpa-joins-blue-energy-and-world-energy-in-race-to-harness-ocean-power/feed/ San Francisco Mayor Asks Feds for Permission on Major Wave Energy Project http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/02/27/mayor-gavin-newsom-to-announce-a-major-wave-energy-project-off-the-coast-of-san-francisco/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/02/27/mayor-gavin-newsom-to-announce-a-major-wave-energy-project-off-the-coast-of-san-francisco/#comments Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:57:11 +0000 Reenita Malhotra http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/02/27/mayor-gavin-newsom-to-announce-a-major-wave-energy-project-off-the-coast-of-san-francisco/

This morning, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced a preliminary permit application sent to the federal government for a wave power project off the coast of California. The project promises to bring wave energy and jobs to the Bay Area.

Power generated from ocean waves has been recognized to be a cleaner, safer, more efficient answer to our energy needs. When the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide strong and continuous ocean waves, a tremendous energy can be created. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of ocean waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface. Wave technologies are typically designed to be installed in nearshore, offshore, and far offshore locations.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/02/27/mayor-gavin-newsom-to-announce-a-major-wave-energy-project-off-the-coast-of-san-francisco/feed/ Clean Energy From Nuclear Fuel Rods and Oil Rigs [WTF?! FTW!] http://cleantechnica.com/2009/02/20/clean-energy-from-nuclear-fuel-rods-and-oil-rigs-wtf-ftw/ http://cleantechnica.com/2009/02/20/clean-energy-from-nuclear-fuel-rods-and-oil-rigs-wtf-ftw/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:35:55 +0000 Matthew Phelan http://cleantechnica.com/2009/02/20/clean-energy-from-nuclear-fuel-rods-and-oil-rigs-wtf-ftw/ Michael Bernitsas, professor in the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, stands before a prototype of his VIVACE hydrokinetic energy device.

Few energy technologies fit CleanTechnica’s “Technology Inspired By Nature” tag-line as thoroughly as the University of Michigan’s VIVACE Converter—which as we’ve already mentioned derives many of its innovations from imitating how fish create and exploit turbulent currents.

As adorable and eco-friendly as that sounds, it’s also reassuring for investors and geeks to know that VIVACE has additional foundation in over a century of really hardcore (and phenomenally mind-numbing) mechanical and structural engineering research (i.e. Fluid Dynamics).

Read more of this story »

]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2009/02/20/clean-energy-from-nuclear-fuel-rods-and-oil-rigs-wtf-ftw/feed/ “Fish” Machine Turns Ocean Vibrations into Energy http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/24/fish-machine-turns-ocean-vibrations-into-energy/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/24/fish-machine-turns-ocean-vibrations-into-energy/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:19:11 +0000 Ariel Schwartz http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/24/fish-machine-turns-ocean-vibrations-into-energy/

Tidal power is already on its way to becoming a viable energy source, but a University of Michigan engineer believes that slow-moving ocean and river currents could also be renewable energy providers.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/24/fish-machine-turns-ocean-vibrations-into-energy/feed/ Underwater Wind Turbines? bioWAVE System Designed to Create Energy from Ocean Currents http://cleantechnica.com/2008/05/26/underwater-wind-turbines-biowave-system-designed-to-create-energy-from-ocean-currents/ http://cleantechnica.com/2008/05/26/underwater-wind-turbines-biowave-system-designed-to-create-energy-from-ocean-currents/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 03:06:30 +0000 Joe Mohr http://cleantechnica.com/2008/05/26/underwater-wind-turbines-biowave-system-designed-to-create-energy-from-ocean-currents/ bio wave device
Picture a kelp bed on the ocean floor swaying in the current.
Done?
Now picture an underwater field of bioWave turbines (pictured to your left) doing the same. But, unlike the kelp, supplying one half megawatt of electricity. (In kelp’s defense, it does provide oxygen, food, and a place for the elusive leafy sea dragon to hide.) Using habitat inspired and environmentally friendly design (biomimicry) the team at BioPower Systems have designed, and are now testing, the bioWAVE and bioSTREAM devices. Devices that sway in tune with the oceans currents while producing clean, renewable energy. The Australian company has also focused in minimizing the environmental impact of each device as not to upset the ocean’s many delicate ecosystems. Or, as their website puts it:

These systems will reside beneath the ocean surface, out of view, and in harmony with the living creatures that inspired their design.

Read more of this story »

]]> http://cleantechnica.com/2008/05/26/underwater-wind-turbines-biowave-system-designed-to-create-energy-from-ocean-currents/feed/