Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ecology and Environment
Ecology and Environment
ENVIRONMENT
NON CONVENTIONAL
SOURCES OF ENERGY
TIDAL AND WIND ENERGY
Wind power is cost-effective.
Wind creates jobs
Wind enables U.S. industry growth and U.S.
competitiveness.
It's a clean fuel source.
Wind is a domestic source of energy
It's sustainable.
Wind turbines can be built on existing farms or
ranches.
DRAWBACKS OF WIND ENERGY
1. It is a highly intermittent source . Strongest and
steadiest wind may not blow during the time of peak
demand .
They can cause noise pollution due to the vibrations
of the rotating windmills.
Windmills may interfere with radio and television
broadcasts .
Windmills kill birds ,especially if they are located on
migratory routes .
They may affect the aesthetic quality and scenic
beauty of the area .
TIDAL ENERGY
Tidal power or tidal energy is the form of hydropower
that converts the energy obtained from tides into useful
forms of power, mainly electricity.
Tides are a source of clean and renewable source of
energy.
But the energy generation may have serious environmental
impacts like water salinity and sediment movement .
A water turbine is placed in a tidal current, which turns an
electrical generator, or gas compressor that stores the
energy until needed.
As tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar
power So, its potential to harness tidal energy is huge.
The identified economic tidal power potential in India
is about 8000-9000 MW
The most potent sites to produce tidal energy include
the Gulf of Cambay (7000 MW approx.)and the
Gulf of Kachchh (1200 MW approx.) on the west
coast, and the Ganges Delta in Sunderbans in West
Bengal (less than 100 MW).
InIndia, tidal power potential of the order of
9,000mW has been identified, of which 800-1000 mW
in Gulf of Kutch; 7000-8000 mW in Gulf of Cambay
and the rest in Sunderbans.
METHODS
Tidal power can be classified into four generating
methods:-
Tidal stream generator
Tidal stream generators make use of the kinetic
energy of moving water to power turbines, in a similar
way to wind turbines that use wind to power turbines.
These turbines can be horizontal, vertical, open, or
ducted .
Stream energy can be used at a much higher rate than
wind turbines due to water being more dense than air .
Tidal barrage
Tidal barrages make use of the potential energy in the
difference in height (or hydraulic head) between high
and low tides
When the sea level rises and the tide begins to come in,
the temporary increase in tidal power is channeled into
a large basin behind the dam, holding a large amount of
potential energy.
With the receding tide, this energy is then converted
into mechanical energy as the water is released through
large turbines that create electrical power through the
use of generators.
Dynamic tidal power
Dynamic tidal power (or DTP) is an
promising technology that would exploit an interaction
between potential and kinetic energies in tidal flows.
It proposes that very long dams (for example: 30–50 km
length) be built from coasts straight out into the sea or
ocean, without enclosing an area.
Tidal phase differences are introduced across the dam ,
leading to a significant water-level differential in
shallow coastal seas – featuring strong coast-parallel
oscillating tidal currents such as found in the UK, China,
and Korea.
OTEC
India could intensify work on ocean thermal energy
conversion (OTEC) and wind wave energy, meeting the
power requirements in remote oceanic islands and
coastal towns.
India has an excellent OTEC potential and some of the
best sites in the world are known to be located off the
Indian mainland and near the islands of
Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar.
Total OTEC potential around India is nearly 50,000
mW which is about 150 per cent of the present total
installed power generating capacity in the country.
The IEA (International Energy Agency)believes tidal
energy could start playing a significant part in the
global energy mix by 2030. Tidal energy may
produce up to 748 GW of power by 2050, according
to Ocean Energy Systems .
Advantages of Tidal Energy
1) It is an inexhaustible source of energy.
2) Tidal energy is environment friendly energy and doesn't produce
greenhouse gases.
3) As 71% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, there is scope to
generate this energy on large scale.
4) We can predict the rise and fall of tides as they follow cyclic fashion.
5) Efficiency of tidal power is far greater as compared to coal, solar or
wind energy. Its efficiency is around 80%.
6) Although cost of construction of tidal power is high but maintenance
costs are relatively low.
7) Tidal Energy doesn’t require any kind of fuel to run.
8) The life of tidal energy power plant is very long.
9) The energy density of tidal energy is relatively higher than other
renewable energy sources.
DRAWBACKS OF TIDAL ENERGY
The tidal periods of roughly 13.5 hours keep varying
daily making it a highly intermittent source of
energy. Thus , it is difficult to integrate energy
production with peak demand periods .
Large projects may have environmental
consequences because artificial damming and release
of water can cause disruption to local marine
system
They may have negative impacts on ports ,
navigation , wildlife and recreation .
DRAWBACKS OF TIDAL ENERGY
Salt water flooding may cause salinization of
freshwater aquifers .
Large plant may also cause heavy siltation as well
as erosion of seafloor or water shoots through the
dam .
Large capital investments are required for tidal
plants .