Harnessing The Power Of The Tides In Scotland

Renewable energy means harvesting electricity (and sometimes heat) from natural resources — the wind, sunlight, flowing water, or the heat of the Earth below its surface. All these sources are free and will last almost forever.

Yeah, we hear the nattering nabobs of negativism in the audience. “Someday the sun will explode and then where will your renewable energy come from?” Well, to you we say, “Sure, someday the sun will explode and consume our tiny little celestial lifeboat. The difference is, that won’t happen for a few billion years, whereas if we don’t solve the climate crisis in the next 8 years or so, humanity will be screwed six ways to Sunday within a century or two.”

One source of renewable energy that is seldom talked about is tidal power. Think about how vast the oceans are. Now imagine the amount of energy it takes to get those trillions of gallons of seawater to go sloshing about twice a day. If we can’t wrap your heads around such an enormous number, we can ask the folks at Encyclopedia Britannica for help. The answer? 3,000 gigawatts or 3 terawatts. That’s over 1,000 terawatts a year, which is a lot of energy waiting to be tapped.

 Read the rest of the article written by Steve Hanley here

Source: Cleantechnica

Region: Europe

Country: Scotland