Marine Solar Cells (MSC) by Phil Pauley are conceptual hybrid solar and wave energy generators designed to generate renewable energy off shore. The solar wave unit captures wave energy through natural buoyancy displacement and solar energy through photovoltaic cells, taking advantage of natural light reflecting off the ocean’s surface to increase solar capture by 20%.
Nature has unfathomable loads of passive energy, lying dormant in unknown territories. If prudently explored, these potential energy hubs can reduce our dependence on fossil fuel energy which is depleting at a rapid pace. At one point eventually “Time” will not give us a choice to rely on oil for energy, it will command us to switch over to renewable sources of energy or even other alternate sources of energy. A brief about a few of the alternate sources of energy is given below.
The quest for clean sources of energy have so far focused on wind and solar. These two forms of renewable energy have received research spending and time. All round the world, wind turbines and photo voltaic power plants are being built. However, there are other sources of renewable energy that could soon begin to look practical. Some of these, like wave energy, are more promising than the others. There is need, however, to also watch other technologies to see if any of these could help meet at least a part of the ever growing energy needs of humankind.
The world is going green and the technology developed these days is mainly focused on protecting environment and natural resources by using renewable energy resources. These energy resources are proving to be better alternative to fossil fuels and other kind of energy resources that pollutes and damages environment. These renewable energy resources can be sun that gives sunlight, wind, tides etc.
The existence and development of this renewable technology have provided a ray of hope to the normal people in the world who look for a clean and greener world. It’s all up to the citizens and government that can help in spreading this green electricity generation technology.
This question could fairly go unanswered at this point of time just because it does not need an explanation. Even a fifth grader today, could blindly recognize the need to shift to better, cleaner and safer sources of energy. Oil has already played its menacing role under the disguise of the greatest source of energy. Renewable energy should be a compulsion instead of being a point of discussion now. The sun, the wind and the water are three such elements whose energy is still highly unexplored, leave apart being used. Water is a potent and constant source of energy, keeping in mind that almost three quarters of the earth breathe life below water. An inexplicable source of bio energy, the ocean contains tremendous potential.
A few days ago, the President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak has officially inaugurated what he claims to be the world’s largest tidal power plant. Mr. Lee claims that the new plant is a symbol of his trademark “low-carbon, green growth” policy of seeking renewable energy resources.
The tidal power plant at the artificial sea-water Lake Shihwa partially started operating in early August 2011 after nearly seven years of construction.
Like most renewable energy sources, ocean waves cannot compete with the low costs of fossil fuels. It’s expensive to get wave-generated electricity ashore and add it to a local grid. But what if wave-energy conversion could be used where it’s generated?
The U.S. Navy aims to find out. A few weeks ago it installed a system of what are called PowerBuoys, made by Ocean Power Technology. The buoys are bobbing in the Atlantic about 30 kilometers off the New Jersey coast. Each one contains hydraulic fluid and a generator.
Hydroelectric power has long been left out of renewable energy counts, on the assumption that it creates some greenhouse gas emissions as vegetation caught in damned rivers rots. But that may be about to change, with the results of new research just published by Dr. Jonathan Cole in Nature Geoscience finding that hydroelectric power reservoirs are responsible for only about a sixth of the carbon dioxide and methane previously attributed to them.
An international team of scientists has amassed the largest data set to date on greenhouse gas emissions from hydroelectric reservoirs. The new analysis of 85 globally-distributed hydroelectric reservoirs revealed that these systems emit only 48 million metric tons of carbon annually, much lower than the earlier estimates of 321 million metric tons.
By Sarah Fecht
The world’s ocean waves hold as much as 10 trillion watts, and engineers and startup companies are racing to find the best ways to tap the incredible resource that’s washing up on our shores every day. These designs—inspired by beach caves, oyster shells and airplane wings—could point the way to harnessing wave energy.
Why don’t we have stationary commercial fishing platforms that are anchored offshore, where they sweep the waters with their nets, sending the captured fish back to shore through a pipeline? Well, because it’s simpler and more efficient to send fishing boats out to catch the fish and bring them in. Thinking along those same lines, the Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation has proposed a ship-mounted renewable energy-harvesting system, that would be powered by the ocean’s waves.
Traditional wave-power systems, both actual and proposed, are typically permanently located out at sea. Because of this fact, they must be designed to withstand storms. They are also required to send the power that they generate back to shore via underwater cables, which can be very costly to purchase and install. Additionally, because they are permanent structures, they must meet regulatory standards and can’t be located anywhere that ships might run into them.
Follow