OT Tidal power

According to the company web site, they seem to be promising rather better than simple perpetual motion, they are offering a net gain in energy:

'It is important to point out that pumping generates more power than it consumes'

formatting link

Reply to
Nightjar
Loading thread data ...

In article , harryagain scribeth thus

Wonkypedia .. Yes isn't it just;(...

Reply to
tony sayer

It's wonderful the variety of ice creams available nowadays.

Bill

>
Reply to
Bill Wright

No we are not, quite. Mid point is Aug 31/1 Sep and the normal peak is mid September.

One seasons data is "weather" not "climate", mind you last year was quiet as well.

formatting link

Just change the 2014 to 2013, 2012 etc for previous years (2011 appears to e AWOL).

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Not with at most a 30 foot head

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

At this point you just know its fairy dust

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Exactly. All signs of a cooling climate, which is after all the integrated and averaged result of 'weather' data.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Hydraulic ram? Just a thought.

Reply to
Capitol

Still doesn't give an overall increase in energy.

Merely converts one form to a more useful one.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

And not very efficiently at that.

Reply to
John Williamson

And surely only really applicable to small volumes of water supplying isolated locations such as farms or individual houses. They used to be fairly common in Cornwall, and no doubt elsewhere were the topography was appropriate, for raising water from a valley bottom to, for example, a water trough for cattle on higher ground. Can't see them being used on anything like a large scale.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

Not saying that this system doesn't have other issues, but as I see it this single statement is not necessarily wrong. Sure if you are just moving water from one lake to another it is, but this is a tidal situation.

If you pump water from the sea to the lagoon when the sea is six inches below the lagoon, and let it out when the sea is six feet below the lagoon, would this not generate more energy than consumed? (OK the six inches and six feet might not be the right numbers because of efficiency losses but in principle?)

Its far from a perpetual motion machine since you are relying on a dropping sea level to increase the head.

Reply to
news

well you are then taking some energy from the tides and you MIGHT just get a shade more out - but 6 feet is an abominable head to get any efficiency at all.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Surely that is all any of Harry's green dreams ever amount to? Apart from insulation up to a cost/benefit balance.

If the country is committed to a percentage of green energy, the trick might be to chose the ones which give the best overall return balanced against loss of amenity.

Tidal stream appears to score well on amenity but I know nothing about installation cost/lifetime performance issues.

Reply to
Tim Lamb

In message , The Natural Philosopher writes

My reading of the Halcyon puff indicated they would save cost and silting by not having a lagoon.

Pumping must be from some other scheme.

Reply to
Tim Lamb

You might think that...

..but it points then firmly at nuclear power.

And that doesn't make money for green organisations.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

They are only doing it so they can claim that they don't disrupt the tidal levels. I doubt if it makes enough energy from pumping the water to be worth doing it for generation.

Reply to
dennis

That's about the only way that pumping more sea water behind the barrage would make any sense (when the tide has already done 70 or 80 percent of the work for you).

It would only be used when such a high tide coincides with an off-peak demand period when the electricity costs make it economic enough to store additional energy in the system which can then be sold back to the "Grid" on the following demand peak.

Unlike other forms of "Green Energy", this system can act as both a green primary energy source and a green energy storage sink to further help maintain stability in the Grid.

Reply to
Johny B Good

The web site shows the turbines being used as pumps. Unfortunately, as they have chosen to use black text on a mainly blue background I haven't actually been able to read what, if any, benefit they think there is.

Reply to
Nightjar

They're minimising environmental problems by losing efficiency. The pumping, for instance, is claimed to restore the original tidal flows, and their turbines are only 3 bladed in an attempt to stop them from turning fish into fish fingers.

It's easier to read if you select the text for copying, I found.

Reply to
John Williamson

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.