re-size
Off Manhattan, scientists harnesss enough power from the ocean to light a supermarket, parking garage and bus station.
  1. groups:
    Green,   Max and Jason: Still Up,   Earth and Science,   On Current TV,   3 more
  2. tags:
    Green,  Earth and Science,  On Current TV,  Climate Change, 13 more + add
  3. credits:
    estone Producer,
    cpyle Producer,
    davidpond Editor,
    more
estone
  • video added January 09, 2008

12 comments // Tidal Turbine Power // Video

  •  

    Hope they get to phase 3 of the implementation soon

    Wesnology61
  •  

    I really really liked it, and I hope more things like this come along, in which we can use.

    Kidryu16
  •  

    Hudson River != East River.

    The whole video combines & confuses the two!

    milolilo
  •  

    A truly informative, professonal pod. I love how the filmmaker was objective about presenting the issue - showcasing various viewpoints from Verdant Energy Company to the Hudson river keeper to the workers in the store. The pod also contains great snapshots of NYC.

    MickeyLin
  •  

    OK...
    I heard a problem with this.. and I HAVE A SOLUTION to that problem.
    --
    I heard these turbines create energy,, but it also creates heat in the turbine.. that will also raise the temperature of the river.. and when this happens.. is changes the ECO-SYSTEM.. ( new algae grows,, fish migrate at the wrong times, etc -- I used to work for the government,, in the Cheektowaga Conservation Corps.. so i do have a clue)
    it turns out to be a bad thing.
    HOWEVER.. I HAVE A SOLUTION...
    instead of keeping the turbine in the water..
    You NEED to build beams that are over the water.. that hold the turbine...-- but let the propeller part of the turbine go into the water..
    -- so.. the only part of the machine that is in the water.. is the actual propellers...-- that way... the heat from the turbine is not in the water.. therefore will not increase the temp of the water.
    ALSO... try using screens.. --- in order to let the water flow through the screen...- but it will help block the fish from swimming into the propellers..---
    it is rather simple..
    and make a giant tube tunnel.. thta is always clear and open.. for the fish to swim through.. like a tunnel for cars.. like the LINCOLN TUNNEL.. for fish.
    --
    this stuff is very easy..
    use me..
    -- use my ideas..
    I am not in it for the money,, just to help the environment.
    I amLucas James Xavier Kolasa
    email me for more ideas.. or how to better develope it..
    i have more details.. small things for the actual building of it.
    -- I was thinking of going there in person earlier this week.. -- but then I saw it on Current TV.. and I hope you all see this.
    thanks Current TV for existing.

    Luckasa
  •  

    To comment on Luckasa, thats cool and i like your idea, but i thought the turbines were below the water so that some boats could still use the waterway if there were bars going all the way across the lake boats couldnt pass through. Also what about if the turbine engine below was cased in another layer and filled with a liquid that would help dissipate the heat even further, it would be similar to a liquid cooled computer. Or the layer could be filled with an isulation material as well.

    Wesnology61
  •  

    Oh.. that is a good question..
    -- so.. in the center of the river.. there would be a canal for the boats..
    -- but get this..
    -- the bars that run over the river.. to hold theturbines..
    --- they can be made to go.. 1/4 of the way across..
    1/3 of the way across...
    some.. can be put on gadgets that could go up nd down.. like a draw-brigde.. to let boats pass by..
    --
    also..
    i tend to believe.. that the propeller is the only part that needs to be in the water.. and a tube.. that houses some electrical wires.. that creates the electric current-- or some gadget.. that spins in that tube.. to create the electricity above water.. can all be on the shore.. -- so.. in essence..
    you would have hundreds of things that look like pipes shooting into the water.. at different angles..-- depending on where they would be placed in the river..and at the end of the pipes.. would be the propellers.
    it is easier to draw a picture.
    -- i can see it in my mind..--
    but you could also build it.. so.. this pipe like thing would go straight from the shore.. to the floor of the river-- and run across the ground.. and pop up... wherever you wanted it to be,, and at the end.. there would be the propeller.
    -- in essence.. the same design plan can be used..--
    keeping them very deep in the water.. so boats can float over them...-- but keep all the turbine engines on the shore...or in a warehouse that is next to the river.-- my brother used to have this toy. -- it was an erector set. and it came with a generator. and if we could build it with an erector set.. then they definately could build it with the technology available today.
    -- because.. if i still had the erector set. i garuntee i could build it.. so the propeller was underwater.. but the generator would be above water.. and it would make the light bulb go on..----
    use the same technology to generate even greater power.
    -- I used to have a toy car. it came with a pump. you pump air into it,, and push it a little.. and the compressed air would power the car to go fast and far.-- I also had a toy rocket.. add about half water.. and use the pump.. about 50 times.. to pump air into it.. the compressed air plus the water would shoot the toy rocket about 100 yards+ into the air.
    zero-pollution is child's play.
    *~*

    Luckasa
  •  
    Image...

    Very cool, they've been talking about this in the Bay Area for eons too... sounds like it will become reality soon, hopefully....the currents under the GG bridge are very powerful and could crank out some real juice!

    "San Francisco Bay is one of only 15 locations worldwide suitable for large scale production of energy from movement of the tides. Safe for Bay ecosystems including fish and marine mammals, tidal power could deliver 12% of San Francisco electric needs with no carbon emissions ? the cause of global warming."

    joebrilliant
  •  

    that is right JOEBRILLIANT..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
    ...THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN....

    Luckasa
  •  

    I can understand the argument for placing the generators on land, I'm not convinced it's a practical solution. First of, in order to get the energy to the generators you'll have to transfer it via a mechanical system. In order to do so you can use either pneumatics, hydraulics or a combination of shafts and belts.
    Shafts and belts won't work for you because they'll be even harder to maintain than a generator and because it'll loose too much energy going through the various bearings and joints. Energy that is dissipated as heat.
    Pneumatics has an equally prohibitive energy loss, though instead of heat it's lost because the air is compressed in the lines. On top of that pneumatics only works properly when the external pressure is equal along the line. In order to solve this you'd need to lay down pipes instead of the usual "soft" plastic lines.
    Lastly there's hydraulics. It has the advantage that you can use "soft" lines and the lines themselves are relatively low cost. Unfortunately you'd need to install a pressure pump on the propeller shaft and pumps use up maintenance hours at a brutal rate. And to make matters worse you'll have to build up enough pressure to move the fluid 10+ meters up and over some considerable distances which will cause a serious energy loss.

    As for your proposal it wouldn't be practical either. Due to the nature of the system, the pipes would have to have the same diameter as the propeller, making for a big and heavy system that'll cause turbulence, thus reducing the effectiveness of any other propeller in the vicinity.

    Thiel
  •  

    wrong..
    haha
    let me explain.. a new idea,, based on what you said.
    *~* *~* *~*
    see.. you said the pipes would have to be as big as the propeller.
    that is not true.
    -- all propellers go down t a very narrow point.. where it is conected to the piece that shoots up to the engine,, turbine ,, whatever you want to call it.
    I am suggesting... that the propeller spins.. and it is attached to a rod.. that may be 50 feet long.. and this narrow rod spins... and is like an inch thick.. that is all it needs to be.. and that goes from the propeller underwater.. to a land generator..-- that spinning rod is hooked into the exact same thing that they already have... -- it will produce the same amount of energy,, becasue the rod will spinjust as fast.
    in fact.. you can make them very lightweight, nd very strong using modern materials.

    ___ i totally appreciate your email.... because it helped me modify and explain using better vocabulary words
    -- without this communication... it would be not so easy to understand.
    -- but in reality,, what i propose is a very simple solution... using the same technlogy they use now. I am taking nothing away from their brilliance.
    I am jsut saying,, take the engines out of the water,,, because it will tamper with the eco-system. I know for a fact.. that those engines will warm the water, and that even one degree will cause changes. --
    in my oppinion.. tampering with the eco-system to make human life more luxurious is a serious crime.-- look at the loggers. over 5,000 species extinct annually. all to make human life more luxurious.--
    that is a crime,, ever read the endangered species act? i mean. i know this is a different situation... however.. i have already heard what will happen to the eco-system if the water temps increase,, and only in that area,, as opposed to it being a natural increase throughout the entire ocean. the eco-system is very tricky. I offer a simple solution to avoid these problems in the future.
    ----- this is not the hard way or the easy way.. it is the right way.
    -- i am just saying.. they already had a scientific study on what will happen,, I saw it on tv.. not current tv.. but another station. I like to be informed when it comes to the environment.

    Luckasa
  •  

    River Power is Great, used to turn WATERWHEELS back when the Industrial Age was just getting cranked up post-1712. The trouble tho is that most the World's populations are not living beside a big river flowing this fast.

    Gravity on the other hand is everywhere. Each individual Home and Apartment could be running off Gravity Power, with no disrespect to river power.

    There's just a world of gravity, not rivers. One of the really big problems with getting electric service produced in the water is that no one feels a responsibility to use less electricity.

    But if they had a Gravity Wheel supplying their electrical needs is a whole different story when the washing machine slows down or the toaster doesn't toast the toast so well. So what is really needed is a RESPONSIBILITY BUILDER and that's on-site "point-of-service" graviity energy.

    Let those big turbines in the Hudson River send power to the traffic lights. An improved home circuit box would switch power around automatically to prevent the refrigerator from running at the same time as the stove too. That way homes and apts would not need 200 amp service. They could go back to where they used to be, 100 amp.

    This Energy Ditch we are standing in is one we dug for ourselves back when Gasoline cost $0.05 (5 cents) a gallon in 1958... so there wasn't any need to design a smart circuit box for homes. Why doesn't somebody do that?!

    http://tinyurl.com/GravityWheelOne is a start to real tangible Energy Independence for all homo sapiens every continent on earth could have electricity right now, and their pets!.

    Gravity_Man

Add your comment

keep browsing
Green
Max and Jason: Still Up
Earth and Science
most popular

current videos