What is tidal
energy?
What are the advantages of tidal
energy?
What are the disadvantages of tidal
energy?
Tidal energy is the utilization of the sun and moon's gravitational forces - as the tide is the result of their influences. Like other alternative energies, tidal energy is not really anything new. Something called a tide mill existed nine hundreds years ago. The difference between the tide mill and today's tidal power plant is the size of the unit and the amount of energy generated.1 To utilize tidal energy, people have to build a barrage (a barrier) with gates of some kind at the opening of a bay or a river system to create an estuary (a big basin). The gates create differences in the water levels between the estuary and the ocean, therefore enabling the generation of electricity. For example, when the tide falls, the receding water retreats back to the ocean by passing through a turbine located in the barrage; generating electricity. Electricity can also be generated when the open gate lets water flow into the estuary during peak periods of high tide. This is commonly called the barrage technique.2
What are the advantages of tidal energy?
The major advantage of tidal energy is its economical benefits. For example, tidal energy does not require any fuel. Tides rise and fall every day in a very consistent pattern. Another benefit is the economic life of a tidal power plant. A plant is expected to be in production for 75 to 100 years, in comparison with the 35 years of a conventional fossil fuel plant.3 Besides the economical factors, tidal energy is clean and renewable, unlike fossil fuels.
What are the disadvantages of tidal energy?
The altering of the ecosystem at the bay is the biggest drawback of tidal power. Damages like reduced flushing, winter icing and erosion can change the vegetation of the area and disrupt the balance. Similar to other ocean energies, tidal energy has several prerequisites that make it only available in a small number of regions. For a tidal power plant to produce electricity effectively (about 85% efficiency 4), it requires a basin or a gulf that has a mean tidal amplitude (the differences between spring and neap tide) of 7 meters or above. It is also desirable to have semi-diurnal tides where there are two high and low tides everyday.5
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