Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

But the barage is a huge barrier than mot only affects birds but an entire ecosystem.

Now why have the barage, why not sink the generators into the water without the barage? becasye they have either a) Blinkered thinking or b) concrete is cheaper than generators so they just put 4 in the middle and let all the water flow though those.

Just think if all of that money putting up Wind turbines (if which there are now tens of thousands) had been put to use putting them underwater. There is always a tide*, but not always a wind.

*Tide being used to also incorporate current. and best of all we know *exactly* how much current and tide there will be, unlike wind which is highly unpredictable.

also tick off the Eye sore problem, You can't complainabout underwater turbines ruining the view.

and the irony of building offshore windfarms is extreme. The have sunk pillars into the sea bed off the coast to make use of a fluid (air) flowing to generate power when they had to build the bases IN a vastly more superior fluid (water) to use for generating power!.

It looks like a) Blinkered thinking

C

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

A quick bit of wikipedia suggests 15GW peak power. Wonder what the average power is.

BTW with us needing 4.5x10^10 W 15GW isn't going to take the edge off that, and it would be a shortsighted bit of idiocy to wreck every tidal estuary we have.



With them being sunk they're below the weather so unlikely to be damaged by storms etc.

Going on a hippy bent, S type turbines could easily be caged to avoid any risk to whales or anything, or even left alone they'd be fairly slow moving so probably no threat to sea life. The bases would make brilliant habitats for the fishies too.

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

Things in government move pretty slowly. By the time this is all up and running the current lot may have been voted out leaving the new ones to take all the credit. People have short memories so when it comes to voting again they will think, I'll vote for this lot again, my electricity bills are half what they were under the ones before them.

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

Why does it have to be government? Get a working prototype built and attract private investors.

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

Good point. Get back in that shed!

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

Says the man, 12 hours before a Neuclear power station explodes in Japan.

;)

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

okay, so it's not looking at tidal power, but the wave hub is setting up a test bed for wave / tidal based power systems http://www.wavehub.co.uk/, it's like a massive underwater 4-gang :-)

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

nuclear, mmm scratch that. When these turbines do eventually get dropped in the sea, the area will become a no fishing or no go zone, so will become a haven for the wildlife, i'm going to stick a generator in my plughole so every time i empty the bath free energy, lol.

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

Meh to that.

Never heard of a Pebblebed Reactor?

Re: Solving the UK's energy problems.
 

Mercifully that explosion was radioactive steam and not the rods. They're hoping that it does what happened at 3 mile Island.

Going on to other things mentioned the tides are predictable up to 5 years in advance (if I've remembered my Alevel geography) so you can roughly predict what shortfall/ surplus that there will be.

TBH France went the right way in the 1950's and 60's as they now know exactly how to develop and manage the nuclear process.

Shame that the waste still ends up at Windscale