Swarms of marine turbines could 'tap the Gulf Stream'

[cory777]

Source: BBC

Darris White is a deep thinker.

The engineer at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the US is currently finalising designs for a series of turbines that could be used to harness the immense energy of the Gulf Stream, flowing deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

The underwater stream roughly contains around 21,000 times more energy than the Niagara Falls and by some estimates, could potentially provide up to one-third of the US's electricity needs.

"Hydrokinetic power from the Gulf Stream can provide enough power for over a million households in Florida," said Professor White.

But that is easier said than done: harnessing that energy needs to happen 1,200m below the surface of the ocean in turbulent and constantly changing conditions.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10914462

---

Alternative Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com

[earcandle]

1. That would be great if we can somehow find a way to suck up the oil plumes resting at the bottom of

the gulf.  Maybe their new shipping method is to let the
stream take the oil to another continent underwater and then
suck it up there without paying tariffs.  I wouldn't put it
past them.  Hurry on, we want to use the stream for
electricity!   We need clean water.  They won't suck it up
here because they are trying to keep those secret. 

dumbfucks, they are, and so then become everyone that is
fooled by them.  

in my not so humble opinion

[glowing]

4. The Gulf Stream is not actually in the Gulf. Its the Atlantic Ocean Current.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

10. It's all the same current with a different name

and it's called the Loop current in the Gulf before entering the Atlantic. As it flows between Cuba and Florida the current, called the Florida Current at that point, is at its strongest as it is moving the total amount of water through the narrowest channel.
http://kingfish.coastal.edu/gulfstream/p2.htm
..As the current approaches the Caribbean Sea, water is funneled through the many channels of the Antilles and Caribbean Islands, and through the Yucatan Channel - where it narrows and gains strength - and then loops into the Gulf of Mexico. This is where we can first observe an organized flow on satellite images. This flow enters the Gulf of Mexico at the Yucatan Channel and exits the Gulf at the Straits of Florida. The current is commonly referred to as the Loop Current while it's in the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Current when it leaves the Gulf between Florida and Cuba..

[Syrinx]

2. I've often wondered about that

Most of our electricity in this area comes from hydroelectric facilities on the river. It always seemed to me that there should be a way to tap the enormous powers of the oceans to produce electricity. Maybe some people smarter than me have figured out how to do it. :)

[billlll]

3. stop Gstrm and ice age results... corrects all global roasting problems!

Old art bell show guest said Gstream end wd trigger ice age IIRC.
Turbines may b godsend!


An end to global warming.

Where's my Nobel Prize?

Turbines wd slow if not end Gstrm.

Only half joking about benefits.

Comments?

[RC]

5. Great. Sea life that BP didn't kill will now be chopped up by these meat grinders.

[kedrys]

6. They're testing one near the Old Port in Montreal

Even the environmentalists are happy with it so far - it's small, it doesn't make noise, doesn't alter the currents, and cranks up plenty of power.

[rucognizant]

7. They are also testing one in Eastport Me.

Well beyond testing, at this point, it is now hooked up to the CG Station there, to be the first Gov facility to be "lit" with tidal power.
It isn't in the Gulf stream but in the Bay of Fundy, the largest daily displacement of water in the world.
100 billion tonnes of water daily

Each day 100 billion tonnes of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers!

It isn't grinding up sea dwellers either or the Fed. State. & Local fishermen's Depts. would have thrown it out! WE CAN'T HAVE TIDAL POWER IN ANY OF OUR STreams & rivers, because it might deter & displace the live wild salmon population
( Been here 19 years have yet to see a wild salmon!)

[chemenger]

8. And there would be no need to lubricate the rotating parts

... lubricant provided free by BP.

[Frisbee]

9. The best part is...

they will never need to be lubricated, BP has taken care of that.

[Regret My New Name]

11. What about the fish? SAY NO! SAVE THE SUSHI!

I just like to be negative. :P