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San Francisco experiments with tidal power in radical new proposal

sfgate.com — Giant turbines submerged in the choppy waters below the Golden Gate Bridge generating enough alternative energy to provide power to nearly 40,000 homes. The idea may sound like science fiction, but it is a real proposal backed by city leaders who hope it will decrease their dependence on oil and make S.F. a hub for tidal power experimentation.

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tomboy501 2 years 22 days ago, made popular 2 years 21 days ago

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anonymoustroll, on 10/12/2007, -17/+440,000 homes? What's that? ...like 5% of the bay area housing. Why bother.

You want power out of the bay tidal system? Build a dam.
- mikewilsonuk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15If the post-oil solution is many different kinds of power, 5% is a very useful contribution.
- devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Exactly, mikewilsonuk. Imagine if we had a couple more experiments like this, each only providing a fraction of the power grid's necessary electricity. We could get 20, 30% of our power from natural sources if they're all reasonably effective, and that's just today - imagine if we started major projects to provide more power in say 10 years.
- vfrex, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Isn't the real problem here the energy cost to produce, place, and maintain the underwater turbine?
- snurfle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4A dam... uuummm... tidal current flows in both directions. Exactly what kind of dam is going to generate power from that?
- lubberwort, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3A dam could also work, since it is tidal you let the tide come in, close up the dam, let the tide go out, then use the higher water that you've caught to power turbines as it goes back out to the ocean.
  http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/tidal.htm
- thewaz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4hello people there is a huge shipping industry, i dont think they are going to want a dam, not to mention the houses wont exist if a dam resevior is built.
  
  and dont tell me a dam takes less maintenece than the proposed idea.
JamesWilson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17I don't think this is the first time those in San Francisco have experimented.
- devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Yeah, but flower power didn't light up 40,000 homes!
- snurfle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13But people lit up in 40,000 homes ;)
- unloud, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Ok. . . I'm confused. Somehow this thread jumped from gays to hippies?
  
  Maybe I'm just thinking too far inside the box.
- ahhell, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@unloud
  
  They could be talking about gay hippies.
- devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9some killjoy is going around burying jokey comments. get your kicks somewhere else, grinch! And well said, snurfle.
  
  Unloud, were we ever talking about gays? I don't think all those gay people are just "experimenting."
thewaz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3friggin great idea
rzklkng, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Here's a little contrarian thought process...

Global warming, whether cyclical or man-made, is a real measurable phenomenom. Maybe it's blowing up icebergs and not letting them drift to see, maybe it's more pollution and more of the suns rays heating the water, maybe it's more (darker) pollutants making the water absorb more heat.

Using kinetic energy generation from waves, maybe in huge offshore energy farms, would absorb that energy from the ocean, and maybe help counteract global warming?

Maybe.
- tvashtar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sure, but let's not imagine that somehow we're getting energy from nowhere, by using the power of the tides we're actually deorbiting the moon! Of course the effect is miniscule on this scale but....
- EricAnderton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well, the laws of thermodynamics do state that you cannot get more energy out of a system than you put in. So you're talking about a reduction of entropy due to conversion losses. *Technically* you're correct, but to what extent is purely up to how tidal generators and wind farms are engineered and ultimately utilized. Yea, there would be a net effect, but would it even be measurable? Who knows.
  
  However, the article talks about tidal energy which is really more /Lunar/ energy than solar. What you're talking about is taking heat directly from the ocean to combat the greenhouse effect, which is *much* harder to do.
  
  If you want to be real technical about it, you could combat the greenhouse effect by taking solar and wind energy, and routing the output directly into some form that is "greenhouse neutral". Something like using the electricity generated to sequester CO2 directly from the atmosphere (converting it into more complex compounds like plants do), or beam it back out into space in a way that doesn't heat the atmosphere. Even so, the sheer scale required to see results within a human lifetime would be mind-boggling - but it's possible.
imsoclever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Anything that reduces dependence on oil is a good thing. Oil creates pollution and is not a renewable energy source.

Oh and it's also causing a few tiny issues in World Politics.
- h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Anything to get Californians to stop telling us in the Snowbelt to "GO SOLAR!" is a good idea.
- imsoclever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Anything whose end result is pie is also a good idea
axxiom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Tidal power, much like the amusement ride "Tidal Wave" eventually gets boring and people stop riding it. Oil has so much more drama, intrigue, and guns. Did I mention guns? Guns people. Real ones too.
redbaron122, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i wonder if the govenator supports this plan
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San Francisco experiments with tidal power in radical new proposal

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