Floating wind turbine launched

[astroron]

Out of sight out of mind:):):)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8085551.stm

[bloodhound31]

Great idea! Thanks for posting Ron.

Baz.

[Robh]

Great idea in principle. Regardless of what the article suggests, I think they would be costly to maintain. What about the continual stresses from wave motion, the likelihood of storm damage and certainly, corrosion from water and salt?

Regards, Rob.

[astroron]

Rob I can see where you are coming from, but don't you think they designers would have taken those points into consideration:shrug:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[netwolf]

I always wondered about another method which would be to use the actual Tidal force to generate electricty. A quick google search turned this up.
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/hydro/tidal-power/
I think you could even make it better my having sequential turbines so as to give a bost effect from the first to the second. Like the do in Aircraft engines.

However in either method one must closely examine the impact on environemnet. while out of sight is good for human beings, it may not be so great for the wildlife out at sea.

As to the question of corrosion, what material is used in submarines and ships to stop the same corrosion. Could not such material be used in construction and design of these turbnines.

[Robh]

Ron,
Let's hope so!
Regards, Rob

[bloodhound31]

Regardless of their cost/efficiency, I think it is inspiring that people are trying to test alternatives at all.

Sure, it might be a bit costly now, but as the trials continue we find better materials, more cost-efficient designs, more energy efficient concepts and cleaner, more sustainable forms of energy production.

We all know that wind turbines and solar panels cost a lot of money to set-up and maintain, with not a lot of profit reaped from their output. The average takes up to ten years to pay itself off. We have to start somewhere.

Using the existing natural motions of wind and tidal forces could do much, much less harm than the crud we are pouring into the sky now.

If buoys and other sea-faring stations can be built to weather the storms, I am sure the brains behind these new floating behemoths can work something out.:D

Baz.

[lacad01]

Sounds pretty interesting. Think one of many hurdles would be the transmission cabling. Provided they use the same principles as used in sub-sea telecommunications cables (lots or armour and corrosion protective material) should be ok. Placement would have to be considered with the hazards of shipping lanes, etc i.e. you don't want an anchor pulling up one of those cables :) which funnily enough happens quite a bit with telco cables. One of the funniest stories I've heard from an international telco about a cable break around the Philipines - local fishermen used wrecked cars as sinkers for their long-line/drag fishing :screwy: when they wheeled the line back in the car had snagged on one of these cables and fishermen merrily hacked it off their line :)

[Analog6]

Baz, I'm with you, every EFFORT is good. Whenever I go down to photograph the surf I ponder over all that wave power going to waste. It never stops, even when the sea is calm, they are coming in, regular as clockwork. We live over 3 km away as the crow flies and it is a rare night when we cannot hear the sea. Surely there is some way to capture this.

I very strongly beleive we MUST stop using coal and belching pollutants into the atmosphere.

Climate change/global warming / call it what you will MAY be part of a natural cycle, but the crap we have spat out since the Industrial Revolution must be having some effect on the overall picture.

I'm all in favour of solar / wind and other alternative methods.

Just imagine if every home had a roof of solar panels and was hooked up to the grid - we would, I understand, still need some 'static'/'reliable' generation such as coal produces, but it could be cut by a great deal.

[astroron]

Hear! Hear!:thumbsup::thumbsup: