Slashdot Mirror
Underwater Ocean Kites To Harvest Tidal Energy
eldavojohn writes "A Swedish startup has acquired funding for beginning scale model trials of underwater kites, which would be secured to a turbine to harness tidal energy for power. The company reports that the kite device allows the attached turbine to harvest energy at 10 times the speed of the actual tidal current. With a 12-meter wingspan on the kite, the company says they could harvest 500 kilowatts while it's operational. This novel new design is one of many in which a startup or university hope to turn the ocean into a renewable energy source."
At first I read "Ocean Kitties" and wanted to see pictures of those...
Because of the tides, the Earth's rotational energy is being stolen by the moon, which is using that energy to slowly escape from orbit. (This is a diminishing effect over time, that will eventually reach equilibrium.) But when we leach this energy for our own purposes, we are changing the delicate balance of that equation. ...Siphon off too much energy from the tides, and we could either increase the rate at which the Earth is slowing, bring the moon crashing down upon us, or both!
Won't somebody think of the children? We owe future generations a planet fit to live on and capable of sustaining the future.
HSJ$$*&#^!#+++ATH0
NO CARRIER
If they're anything like my kites, they'll just end up nose-first in the silt.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
Tidal forces are from the moon, and over time the moon is getting farther away. Clearly, if we harvest tidal energy we will force the moon away faster as it makes up for the difference. If NASA times it just right, we could put people on the moon, launch the moon at Mars and have people walking on Mars just months later. Melt the polar icecaps on Mars, use tidal kites there, and repeat as needed to keep using the moon as our Earth/Mars space shuttle. Add Phobos and Deimos into the mix and space tourism can take off.
Next, we use the tide from the sun to travel to Alpha Centauri.
My webcomic
The solution is obvious. I am selling gravity credits to absolve you of your moon-doom guilt. Each credit you purchase represents energy gathered from sources not directly linked to the moon's potential energy plus some of the profits will be used to fund missions that will increase the moon's potential energy. This gravity offset program will save the earth for our posterity. As the administrator of this program, I will, of course, take a percentage of the sales as compensation. My motives are, however, purely in the interest of the future.
One last thing: Sometimes I wonder; "Is that someone's signature? Or do they type that at the end of each post?"
Yeah, it'd be great if they could try to make some sort of proof of concept, or trial version to test it out before investing in it whole-hog....