We “know” that petroleum as a fuel source is running out. Not as fast as we once thought- only because as the price rises, sites and sources that were out of reach (economically) become more feasible. Think Athabascan tar sands, coal to gas, fracking (water fracturing of structures to release natural gas). But, we still need alternative sources, not only as a national security issue, but to reduce our carbon footprint and maintain/improve our air quality.
We routinely consider windmills as a source of harnessing energy for our uses. The problem with wind farms is that the wind is not always available. Which means there is no power at various times of the day. Which is why AES hooked up their wind farms to batteries to store energy.
And, why MIT researchers have proposed using concrete spheres to store wind power. These concrete spheres would sit on the ocean floor, tethered to wind mills floating on the ocean surface. When the wind is blowing fiercely, the extra energy would be used to drive water out of the spheres. When the wind has died down, water would be allowed to flow back into the sphere, driving a motor to produce electricity during these fallow periods. As opposed to the CAES (compressed air energy system), which uses natural gas, this concept has no fossil fuels, and could theoretically store 10 hours of energy.
Now, another concept or two are being tested. An Energy Bag system off the Orkney Islands (northern portion of Scotland, UK), a large inflatable device (manufactured by Thin Red Line, which produces fabric structures for the aerospace industry) is being tested by the University of Nottingham (UK). The basics of this system mimic those of the MIT concept- during periods of high wind, power an air compressor to inflate the bags, which are moored to the ocean floor. When the wind subsides below usable levels, the compressed air in the bags is used to drive turbines, thereby providing energy. The bags are on the ocean floor (600 m depth) because the water pressure at these levels is tremendous, containing the compressed air (with no need for concrete structures, as in the MIT concept). A 20 m diameter bag stores some 70 megawatts of power.
Similar to the Nottingham project, Hydrostor (Toronto, Canada) is constructing a 4 megawatt-hour pilot facility under Lake Ontario. The water depth in this case will range from 50 to 500 m- and the stored electricity will be supplied to the power grid during periods of high demand, similar to that of the AES system described above.
The key consideration for all these concepts- achieve sufficient efficiency at low enough costs to render the system economically viable.
We have some windmills proposed in my area, but people are protesting it because, and I quote, “It will ruin the scenery.” I haven’t looked it up yet, but hearing that concern it make me wonder if back in the late 1800’s people had the same issue with power and phone lines.
Basically I find all the alt fuel source information out there fascinating. What you have shared is really neat, and I am floored at that kind of thinking and innovation. I always thought that solar energy would be the next step in our search for alt fuel, but it seems to be trending more toward wind. Whatever it ends up being, I just hope for our future generations that it is clean. Thank you Roy, awesome article!
I think the only limitation to our developing alternative power sources are sources of capital (to build and test these new concepts) and the existing power structures (pun intended) that may not be happy with the competition, Lisa.
This is FASCINATING stuff! The idea of co-harnessing wind and water is simply genius. It seems like large lakes (e.g. Great Lakes, Finger Lakes…etc) are best suited for the hydro harness – is that correct?
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Certainly, these designs are looking to employ wind power contiguous to or on top of the waterways, Tor. The reasons for that are several- there are no wind blocking issues and the air patterns atop water are somewhat conducive to wind. Of coucse, we have the transmission issues to deal with…
Thanks for your comments- and visit!
Rizwan- that’s a scary concept- 12 hours of power. Too many folks in America don’t realize that our failure to upgrade/maintain our power lines is going to make us subject to these same issues. (I live in an area that loves to remind me of these situations- over the past 20 years, we have been without power for more than four days more than 10 times….)
Agree Roy and it’s really awkard the mostly affordable people use Generators but there is a big problem of Oil prices so mostly middle class people can’t afford that.But hope we overcome this factors I m bit confused why we didn’t used solar energy it’s almost 30-40 *C and mostly shiny so I think it’s best way too generate electricity.
Roy, I’m from South Texas where the wind blows most of the time over coastal plains. We have many wind farms and alternative energy companies abound, even in North Texas. I am not so sure about fracking being a good thing. There is some question about the water table quality being tainted. We have the Barnet Shale project here in North Texas and they openly promise that the water is potable. There is some question. It gets into politics, which is never a good source of truth.
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I am not sure how the water quality can be affected by wind power, Ann. Oil drilling and fracking- you bet. And, that’s not alternative energy, since that technology has been around for decades (over a century, really).
Roy
Electricity and water cause shocks so using water to store energy makes me wonder. However, along coast lines there is often a lot of wind and the ocean is water – I wonder if we could do something to improve power that way. And maybe it is time to pull out the Fuller’s dymaxion energy grid back out of the closet. It might shift poverty too as it could get power to places around the world without power
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Roberta- they are not storing electricity in water- they are using the power generated by the wind to compress air or displace water. This is then reversed to drive the turbine and generate power when the wind does not blow.
Roy
Concerns about the “scenery” are valid — what is more worrying though is the impact on the migration of birds and on bird habitats. There have been cases of careless installation of long rows of wind generators, which ended up impeding birds from taking their usual routes (we know how deep migration habits are implanted in birds’ brains) and killing great numbers of them. Eco-logical criteria must be strictly observed — then the wind can cry Mary forever and ever, amen.
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Eleni:
You are absolutely correct that some of these wind farms have been sited without consideration for bird- and other animals- safety.
The vista is a valid argument, as well, but that point has also been overused (for example, it has been claimed when the only views are of coal mines).
The MIT system is planned for use on the ocean, which should limit both of these concenrs; the Lake Ontario one should be similarly situated, and the one in Scotland has supposedly passed both reviews, as well.
Thanks for bringing up those valid concerns.
Roy
I’ve heard of wind power. It is a concept that was above my understanding until now. Thank you for taking the time to explain all the options to us. Great article!
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Glad to oblige, Debi. I try hard to explain these items so that we all can grasp the basic facts- or else, we’ll never be able to determine if they really are the choices we elect for our power sources or not.
Roy
I find this news very invigorating, Roy! As an oceanographer, I am eager to learn more about the possibilities. I just watch a TED conference about the barefoot project and I felt very inspired. Those guys are making a real revolution based mainly in solar energy panels.
One can only hope that the technological adoption occurs sooner than later, Gustavo!
Roy