Oceans Eyed As New Energy Source

(AP) -- Just 15 miles off Florida's coast, the world's most powerful sustained ocean current - the mighty Gulf Stream - rushes by at nearly 8.5 billion gallons per second. And it never stops. To scientists, it represents a tantalizing possibility: a new, plentiful and uninterrupted source of clean energy.

Similar stories from PHYSorg:

Mining destruction for data to help others

Feb 04, 2010 | 4 / 5 (1) | 0

Mammoth Achievement: Researchers at the forefront of molecular biology

Jan 26, 2010 | 4.5 / 5 (12) | 0

Study: Animals populated Madagascar by rafting there

Jan 20, 2010 | 4.5 / 5 (2) | 3

World leaders make new call for clean energy

Jan 18, 2010 | 2.1 / 5 (8) | 4

Chicago suburbs covet Lake Michigan water

Jan 14, 2010 | 5 / 5 (1) | 0

   

• zevkirsh - Feb 14, 2008
  • Rank: 2 / 5 (2)
  i'm sure the environmentalists will find a way to scuttle this project too, just like windfarms over the ocean surface 'ruin the view'
  please. subsurface turbines aren't going to happen because it's hard to design machinery that doesn't break, and it's even harder to fix machinery when it's below the ocean surface.
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• tradur - Feb 15, 2008
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
  I am not an environmentalist.
  
  I am very open to energy alternatives.
  
  But tampering with the Gulf Stream is dangerous.
  
  Basic Physics - Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
  
  Visualize this - A ball that has a groove at its center with a ring that floats. As the ball spins the ring also spins freely. Now you stop the ring with your hand. This in turn applies resistance to the Ball which will also incur drag and begin to slow more due to the resistance.
  
  If we take energy from the gulf stream we will essentially be using its momentum force. If we take away some of that momentum. what happens to the Earth which is creating the spin.
  
  THIS IS NOT TO EVEN START TO CONSIDER THE EFFECTS TO MARINE LIFE IN GENERAL ... I will leave that to the environmentalists.
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• tradur - Feb 15, 2008
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (1)

  I am not an environmentalist.
  
  I am very open to energy alternatives.
  
  But tampering with the Gulf Stream is dangerous.
  
  Basic Physics - Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
  
  Visualize this - A ball that has a groove at its center with a ring that floats. As the ball spins the ring also spins freely. Now you stop the ring with your hand. This in turn applies resistance to the Ball which will also incur drag and begin to slow more due to the resistance.
  
  If we take energy from the gulf stream we will essentially be using its momentum force. If we take away some of that momentum. what happens to the Earth which is creating the spin.
  
  THIS IS NOT TO EVEN START TO CONSIDER THE EFFECTS TO MARINE LIFE IN GENERAL ... I will leave that to the environmentalists.

  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• Oderfla - Feb 20, 2008
  • Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
  Tradur, as soon as I saw this headline, my brain was thinking in the same direction. I am surprised that nobody mentions this in the article. Perhaps this is one of those things that they will be researching. Taking energy out of a system like this IS dangerous.
  
  The questions I have are (I could probably find out with just a little research) where does the water come from? Where does it go? What is the effect of the turbines on waterfalls like Niagara Falls, or in rivers? Is there a correlation?
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• tasmodevil44 - May 02, 2008
  • Rank: not rated yet
  The U.S.A. used to be the most progressive country in the world in new ideas.We used to be famous for our Yankee Ingenuity.Not anymore.I find the closed-minded ignorance of the science illiterate and naysayers out there to be to be downright absurd.Little wonder why the U.S.A. is choking on the smoke trail left by more progressive countries like Japan,China,and India.These ignorant and closed-minded no-sayers look for every ridiculous reason why things can't work instead of creative problem-solving why they can.
  First of all,if they can send astronauts to the Moon,it should not be too difficult to design underwater turbines that are reliable and cheap to maintain.
  Secondly,the Gulf Stream is so vast,you can generate the power of many large nuclear plants(without any radioactive waste),and still have no adverse effects.The most absurd and preposterous claim is that it will slow the rotation of the Earth.This is tantamount to the ignorant scaremongers of the 1960's who believed that the atmosphere was held in place by a huge bubble instead of gravity,and that space rockets would burst the bubble and let all the air out and we'd all die.
  
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• tasmodevil44 - May 02, 2008
  • Rank: not rated yet
  For one thing,the Gulf Stream is not even the same thing as tidal power and has virtually nothing to do with the Moon's gravity or the rotation of the Earth on it's axis.But instead,the Gulf Stream is an indirect source of solar energy.It is driven by a combination of salinity and thermal gradients,or temperature differentials.The fact that the temperature of the oceans is not the same and that we have both warm and cold water is far more paramout than any rotational effects.
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• tasmodevil44 - May 02, 2008
  • Rank: not rated yet
  And then there's the patently ridiculous underwater fan and lawnmower scenario.Oh my goodness......those blades are spinning 50,000 miles per second,and are going to make mince-meat sushi out of all the fish! ! !
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
• snakenjac - Sep 20, 2008
  • Rank: not rated yet
  If you think tidal current power is not possible / probable, please refer to some exciting breakthroughs at www.atlantisresourcescorporation.com
  • report abuse
  • • Current rank
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5