We have all seen the many wind turbines and solar panels that are set up in the countryside and peoples homes, but what about underwater turbines? Although this is not an entirely new area of renewable energy, thanks to a man named Jim Dehlsen, it may be about to receive the marketing, and subsequently investment opportunities need to get really this thing going.
Having many years experience in wind energy, Mr. Dehlsen decided to take that knowledge and use it in an area that is not so popular yet and to revolutionize it. He realized the potential the waters of the world provide us with in terms of an energy source and went at it full steam to try and convert this untapped energy into something we could all benefit from using underwater turbines.
The company that was created to put forward Jim’s ideas is called Aquantis and is based in Santa Barbara, California. With turbines already in production and being distributed to Wales and the Isle of Wight in 2018, the start of something big could be just around the corner. Soon after the first turbines have been erected, the biggest will be at a site in the Gulf Stream in 2019/2020 and will consist of a 200-megawatt field of marine turbines.
Theses gigantic turbines work by gathering the energy created by waves, tidal currents and steady currents. Because there is always a constant flow of water, there will always be a constant flow of energy being created. This free source of energy obviously helps to set against the initial set up costs of the underwater turbines. Others that are currently in operation by competitors work differently to Aquantis as they tend to dig deep into the ocean floor opposed to sitting on the ocean bed, increasing the costs by a huge amount.
Microsoft has already had recognized the potential that Jim and co have to offer and have just finished a combined testing experiment that consisted of constructing an underwater chamber that housed data on behalf of Microsoft. It was carried out over a period of 105 days and was deemed to be a success, so it could be the first of many valuable formed partnerships Aquantis will soon acquire with Facebook, Google and Apple already having been approached.
Investments are coming in from all over with people and companies wanting to get on board with Aquantis, and much of that is down to Mr. Dehlsen himself and his extensive knowledge and expertise in this field. Department of Energy grants have already been awarded to the team, and even Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has claimed a little piece of investment.
While many people are eager to carry forward this work of the progression of underwater turbines and ‘wave power’, there are still a few concerns as to the actual running costs compared to solar or wind power as well as the worry that the noise may confuse sea life.
Whatever peoples concerns are it is evident that this is an avenue of renewable energy that has not yet been explored thoroughly. But, with more time and research devoted to this field, there is no reason to say the efficiency can not improve, just as solar power systems have. By introducing the use of marine energy, we are opening up another branch of technology that may just help save the planet and could serve almost 10 percent of the USA within the next fifteen years.
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