Engineers from Trinity are turning to the sea in an attempt to reduce the environmental cost of energy production. As the global population booms we will need to solve a perplexing equation that requires outputs to soar while dampening the effect our actions have on the environment.
And it could be the tides that hold the key.
Scientists have viewed tidal power as a potential option for reliably generating ‘green’ electricity for some years. There is significant untapped power in the world’s oceans, and the tides are incredibly reliable – unlike the winds that generate power via turbines on land, we can almost set our watches by the tides. But the cost of equipment installation on the sea-floor has – among other things – been prohibitively expensive.
Trying to reduce these costs is a Trinity team involving Experimental Officer in the School of Engineering, Gerry Byrne, Assistant Professor in Engineering, Tim Persoons, and Visiting Professor in the Trinity Business School, William Kingston.
The team tested a next-gen hydrofoil-based anchoring device at a unique tidal testing facility in the Netherlands to assess whether it might offer a reliable means of fixing an energy-generating tidal array to the sea floor. If practical, the device would significantly reduce installation costs because it is considerably smaller and lighter than current options.
Source: Trinity College News
