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Gulf of Mexico Gets Wave-Powered Desalination Plant

Posted by Soulskill on from the hope-it-comes-with-an-oil-filter dept.

blair1q writes "The US Army Corps of Engineers has issued the first permit for a wave-powered desalination plant in American territory to a company called Independent Natural Resources. Waves will operate 'Seadog' pumps, which will lift water into the plant and onto a water wheel connected to a generator, which will create electricity to operate a reverse-osmosis desalination system. The permit runs for four years. Let's hope they don't harm the environment, permanently impact drilling operations, or give Rube Goldberg any crazy ideas..."

11 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. OK, somebody has to say it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can't they just burn the water to power it?

  2. Interesting... Links to info by phantomcircuit · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://inri.us/index.php/SEADOG Looks promising actually.

  3. Re:oil by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Funny

    At least now they won't have to worry about lubricating the wheel.

  4. Missing Quote by FrankDrebin · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Thanks to BP, for the first 3 years of operation, the desalination plant will actually produce Kraft Cajun-Style Salad Dressing."

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    Anybody want a peanut?
  5. Re:Quick Question by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Drink it? Use it for cleaning? Any damn thing you do with water?

    Many will notice rivers tend to flow towards oceans.

  6. This is a very wise investment by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Using wave technology, which varies in cycles, you can store desalinated water at times of peak flow.

    A tidal generator can have many forms - some, which look like buoys, are basically upside-down wind turbines that use the flow of water instead of air to move the blades, while others can use permeated cells. Desalination plants have been around since before WW II, naturally, as have tidal generators.

    Delivery of energy supply is one of the main problems with desalination - the process uses a lot of energy, so using local sources such as tidal power makes more sense than trying to string extra power to the plant.

    Not that you'd want to drink the swampy and/or briny water in many lowland tidal areas ...

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  7. Just a demo by Animats · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Rather than sell electricity or water, though, operators will be taking data to measure impact on sea life, the generator's performance, and the cost of operation, said Douglas Sandberg, the vice president of the privately funded company."

    So it's just a demo. Only generates 60KW. Not clear if that's average or max power; probably max. On days with low surf, not much will happen.

    They've been hyping this since 2004. There are better wave powered generation devices, and even the best ones are commercial flops.

    1. Re:Just a demo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      flops?

      tide power is used all over the world... just because SUV driving rednecks in the US haven't done much with it yet doesn't discount the potential of the power source.

    2. Re:Just a demo by Darkman,+Walkin+Dude · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mod parent up, and tidal is a technology only in its infancy. I mean the clown conflated tidal power with surf, as if it were a gust of wind. Newsflash champ, the tides depend on the moon, not the surf.

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      What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
    3. Re:Just a demo by moonbender · · Score: 5, Informative

      Reyling on the moon? Hah! Good luck! Damn thing keeps disappearing all the time, god knows where, and even most of the time it is there parts of it have broken off or something!

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      Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
  8. just wondering by fred+fleenblat · · Score: 4, Funny

    how many people have to wave at it in order for it to work?