Oceans Eyed As New Energy Source
Florida Atlantic University
researchers say the current could someday be used to drive thousands of
underwater turbines, produce as much energy as perhaps 10 nuclear
plants and supply one-third of Florida's electricity. A small test
turbine is expected to be installed within months.
"We can produce power
24/7," said Frederick Driscoll, director of the university's Center of
Excellence in Ocean Energy Technology. Using a $5 million research
grant from the state, the university is working to develop the
technology in hopes that big energy and engineering companies will
eventually build huge underwater arrays of turbines.
From Oregon to Maine, Europe to Australia and beyond, researchers are
looking to the sea - currents, tides and waves - for its infinite
energy. So far, there are no commercial-scale projects in the U.S.
delivering electricity to the grid.
Because the technology is still taking shape, it is too soon to say how
much it might cost. But researchers hope to make it as cost-effective
as fossil fuels. While the initial investment may be higher, the
currents that drive the machinery are free.
There are still many unknowns and risks. One fear is the "Cuisinart
effect": The spinning underwater blades could chop up fish and other
creatures.
Researchers said the underwater turbines would pose little risk to
passing ships. The equipment would be moored to the ocean floor, with
the tops of the blades spinning 30 to 40 feet below the surface,
because that's where the Gulf Stream flows fastest. But standard
navigation equipment on ocean vessels could easily guide them around
the turbine fields if their hulls reached that deep, researchers
said.
