Subscribe to Technology UpdatesNYC's Green Energy Plans Hindered By Tides
by
findingDulcinea Staff
New York's attempts to use the East River's commanding tides to generate "green" electricity have hit a snag, as malfunctions and damage force developers to reconsider their design.
30 Second Summary
The United States generates most of its electricity from coal-fired plants, natural gas, and hydroelectric dams. Unfortunately, these energy sources are particularly hard on the environment.
With the energy industry investing increasing amounts in renewable resources such as wind and solar power, New York has decided to experiment with a different green technology: underwater turbines.
The technology works similarly to wind and hydroelectric power, but uses the river’s currents, rather than wind or channeled dam water, to turn the turbines’ blades. While the former energy sources require the construction of obtrusive windmills and dams, the turbines in the East River are completely submerged and thus hidden from view.
Unfortunately, the East River's formidable tides have proven too powerful for the first round of turbines developed by the Virginia-based company Verdant Power, who have had to remove their six turbines for repair and redesign. Although the setbacks seem to have taken some of the luster off the green energy project, Verdant says it's all part of working the kinks out of this new technology.
New York’s underwater experiment highlights the increasing willingness of state governments to invest in “green” energy, as worries over the effects of global warming spur more and more states to set quotas for renewable energy sources.
With the energy industry investing increasing amounts in renewable resources such as wind and solar power, New York has decided to experiment with a different green technology: underwater turbines.
The technology works similarly to wind and hydroelectric power, but uses the river’s currents, rather than wind or channeled dam water, to turn the turbines’ blades. While the former energy sources require the construction of obtrusive windmills and dams, the turbines in the East River are completely submerged and thus hidden from view.
Unfortunately, the East River's formidable tides have proven too powerful for the first round of turbines developed by the Virginia-based company Verdant Power, who have had to remove their six turbines for repair and redesign. Although the setbacks seem to have taken some of the luster off the green energy project, Verdant says it's all part of working the kinks out of this new technology.
New York’s underwater experiment highlights the increasing willingness of state governments to invest in “green” energy, as worries over the effects of global warming spur more and more states to set quotas for renewable energy sources.
Headline
Verdant Power geologist Mollie E. Gardner says that the East River's unexpected power is actually good news. "The good thing is that there’s more power in the East River than we thought,” Gardner told The New York Times.
Source: The New York Times
Background
When most people describe New York City’s rivers as “green,” they’re rarely referring to their environmental friendliness. But when the East River became home to the first underwater turbines in the United States, many hoped that the pollution glutted waterway would become a new model for "green" technology across the country.
Source: MSNBC
The technology of Verdant Power’s East River project may be fairly new to the U.S., but Europe has been looking to “lunar power” for years. BusinessWeek charts the rise of this new technology and the businesses developing it.
Source: BusinessWeek
Scotland has become one of the leading researchers of this new technology in Europe. Professor Ian Bryden and his team of researchers at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University estimate that there is enough power in the sea channel between Scotland’s north coast and the Orkney Islands to power Britain for a year.
Source: MSNBC
Related Topics
According to a report released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, New York City is responsible for nearly 1 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. The study found that the city’s emissions increased 8 percent from 1995 to 2005. Although it’s not clear yet if or by how much the East River turbines will reduce the city’s emissions, they are nonetheless emblematic of the Mayor’s commitment to developing a significantly greener Big Apple.
Source: Greenbiz.com
The official New York City Web site offers the full text of New York's first-ever carbon inventory in pdf format.
Source: Official New York City Web site
States all over the country are investing in renewable energy sources. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have already established guidelines for how much of their electricity should come from “green” sources. However, in states where renewable resources are scarce, the development of renewable energy standards has been sluggish.
Source: The New York Times (free registration required)
Oregon has conducted its own green energy experiments, but with a wholly different type of technology. It's called wave-energy, and it uses the tides and swells of the Pacific Ocean to generate energy. Small floating generators ride the ocean swells, converting the up and down motion into usable electricity.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
The controversial Cape Cod wind farm project has cleared another hurdle as the state of Massachusetts’ secretary of energy and environmental affairs Ian Bowles approved the plan to put 130 windmills in the Nantucket Sound. Opponents of the project say the windmills are an eyesore, and will negatively affect tourism and the environment.
Source: The Boston Globe
The African nation of Mozambique is also considering underwater turbines as an energy source, citing the continually strong currents off the country’s coast as a potentially limitless supply of energy.
Source: The Cape Argus of South Africa
Reference Material
The Verdant Power Company’s Web site offers models and descriptions of its underwater windmills. The site also offers pictures of its turbines and the New York tests from 2003.
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