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Benefits of Your Exhibit Investment. Read more. |
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Decision-makers come to the Global Renewable Energy Advanced Technologies,
Expo & Summit 2009.
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| Energy in water (in the form of motive energy or temperature differences) can be harnessed and used. Since water is about 800 times denser than air, even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy.
There are many forms of water energy:
- Hydroelectric energy is a term usually reserved for large-scale hydroelectric dams.
Wave power uses the energy in waves. The waves will usually make large pontoons go up and down in the water, leaving an area with reduced wave height in the "shadow". Wave power has now reached commercialization.
- Tidal power captures energy from the tides in a vertical direction. Tides come in, raise water levels in a basin, and tides roll out. Around low tide, the water in the basin is discharged through a turbine.
- Tidal stream power captures energy from the flow of tides, usually using underwater plant resembling a small wind turbine. Tidal stream power demonstration projects exist, and the first commercial prototype will be installed in Strangford Lough in September 2007.
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) uses the temperature difference between the warmer surface of the ocean and the colder lower recesses. To this end, it employs a cyclic heat engine. OTEC has not been field-tested on a large scale.
Blue energy is the reverse of desalination. This form of energy is in research.
FACTS
- Portugal now has the world's first commercial wave farm, the Aguçadora Wave Park, established in 2006.
- Funding for a wave farm in Scotland was announced in February, 2007 by the Scottish Executive, at a cost of over 4 million pounds, as part of a £13 million funding packages for ocean power in Scotland.
- The major advantage of hydroelectric systems is the elimination of the cost of fuel. Other advantages include longer life than fuel-fired generation, low operating costs, and the provision of facilities for water sports.
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