World Can Be Powered by Alternative Energy, Using Today’s Technology, in 20-40 Years, Experts Say

If someone told you there was a way you could save 2.5 million to 3 million lives a year and simultaneously halt global warming, reduce air and water pollution and develop secure, reliable energy sources — nearly all with existing technology and at costs comparable with what we spend on energy today — why wouldn’t you do it?

According to a new study coauthored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson, we could accomplish all that by converting the world to clean, renewable energy sources and forgoing fossil fuels.

“Based on our findings, there are no technological or economic barriers to converting the entire world to clean, renewable energy sources,” said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will.”

He and Mark Delucchi, of the University of California-Davis, have written a two-part paper in Energy Policy in which they assess the costs, technology and material requirements of converting the planet, using a plan they developed.

The world they envision would run largely on electricity. Their plan calls for using wind, water and solar energy to generate power, with wind and solar power contributing 90 percent of the needed energy.

Geothermal and hydroelectric sources would each contribute about 4 percent in their plan (70 percent of the hydroelectric is already in place), with the remaining 2 percent from wave and tidal power.

Vehicles, ships and trains would be powered by electricity and hydrogen fuel cells. Aircraft would run on liquid hydrogen. Homes would be cooled and warmed with electric heaters — no more natural gas or coal — and water would be preheated by the sun.

Commercial processes would be powered by electricity and hydrogen. In all cases, the hydrogen would be produced from electricity. Thus, wind, water and sun would power the world.

The researchers approached the conversion with the goal that by 2030, all new energy generation would come from wind, water and solar, and by 2050, all pre-existing energy production would be converted as well.

“We wanted to quantify what is necessary in order to replace all the current energy infrastructure — for all purposes — with a really clean and sustainable energy infrastructure within 20 to 40 years,” said Jacobson.

One of the benefits of the plan is that it results in a 30 percent reduction in world energy demand since it involves converting combustion processes to electrical or hydrogen fuel cell processes. Electricity is much more efficient than combustion.

That reduction in the amount of power needed, along with the millions of lives saved by the reduction in air pollution from elimination of fossil fuels, would help keep the costs of the conversion down.

“When you actually account for all the costs to society — including medical costs — of the current fuel structure, the costs of our plan are relatively similar to what we have today,” Jacobson said.

One of the biggest hurdles with wind and solar energy is that both can be highly variable, which has raised doubts about whether either source is reliable enough to provide “base load” energy, the minimum amount of energy that must be available to customers at any given hour of the day.

Jacobson said that the variability can be overcome.

“The most important thing is to combine renewable energy sources into a bundle,” he said. “If you combine them as one commodity and use hydroelectric to fill in gaps, it is a lot easier to match demand.”

Wind and solar are complementary, Jacobson said, as wind often peaks at night and sunlight peaks during the day. Using hydroelectric power to fill in the gaps, as it does in our current infrastructure, allows demand to be precisely met by supply in most cases. Other renewable sources such as geothermal and tidal power can also be used to supplement the power from wind and solar sources.

“One of the most promising methods of insuring that supply matches demand is using long-distance transmission to connect widely dispersed sites,” said Delucchi. Even if conditions are poor for wind or solar energy generation in one area on a given day, a few hundred miles away the winds could be blowing steadily and the sun shining.

“With a system that is 100 percent wind, water and solar, you can’t use normal methods for matching supply and demand. You have to have what people call a supergrid, with long-distance transmission and really good management,” he said.

Another method of meeting demand could entail building a bigger renewable-energy infrastructure to match peak hourly demand and use the off-hours excess electricity to produce hydrogen for the industrial and transportation sectors.

Using pricing to control peak demands, a tool that is used today, would also help.

Jacobson and Delucchi assessed whether their plan might run into problems with the amounts of material needed to build all the turbines, solar collectors and other devices.

They found that even materials such as platinum and the rare earth metals, the most obvious potential supply bottlenecks, are available in sufficient amounts. And recycling could effectively extend the supply.

“For solar cells there are different materials, but there are so many choices that if one becomes short, you can switch,” Jacobson said. “Major materials for wind energy are concrete and steel and there is no shortage of those.”

Jacobson and Delucchi calculated the number of wind turbines needed to implement their plan, as well as the number of solar plants, rooftop photovoltaic cells, geothermal, hydroelectric, tidal and wave-energy installations.

They found that to power 100 percent of the world for all purposes from wind, water and solar resources, the footprint needed is about 0.4 percent of the world’s land (mostly solar footprint) and the spacing between installations is another 0.6 percent of the world’s land (mostly wind-turbine spacing), Jacobson said.

One of the criticisms of wind power is that wind farms require large amounts of land, due to the spacing required between the windmills to prevent interference of turbulence from one turbine on another.

“Most of the land between wind turbines is available for other uses, such as pasture or farming,” Jacobson said. “The actual footprint required by wind turbines to power half the world’s energy is less than the area of Manhattan.” If half the wind farms were located offshore, a single Manhattan would suffice.

Jacobson said that about 1 percent of the wind turbines required are already in place, and a lesser percentage for solar power.

“This really involves a large scale transformation,” he said. “It would require an effort comparable to the Apollo moon project or constructing the interstate highway system.”

“But it is possible, without even having to go to new technologies,” Jacobson said. “We really need to just decide collectively that this is the direction we want to head as a society.”

Jacobson is the director of Stanford’s Atmosphere/Energy Program and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy.

Stanford University (2011, January 27). World can be powered by alternative energy, using today’s technology, in 20-40 years, experts say. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 27, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/01/110126091443.htm

If you want to know more about alternative energy, you may click on the resources to lead you to more information. You may also use the search box to further lead you to other articles. If you want to contribute to this website, we would love to hear your suggestions! It would be great to have you share your thoughts about alternative energy.

The Original Post is Located Here: World Can Be Powered by Alternative Energy

The key issues are discussed in detail and, there is even a list of important things to watch out for. Trying to make decisions with only half the information can end up being quite costly. I hope you will find this article as helpful to you as it was for me.

A new company, Kepler Energy Limited, has been formed to develop a tidal turbine which has the potential to harness tidal energy more efficiently and cheaply, using a device which is simpler, more robust and more scaleable than current designs.

The turbine is the result of research in Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science by Professor Guy Houlsby, Professor of Civil Engineering, Dr Malcolm McCulloch, head of the electrical power group, and Professor Martin Oldfield, Emeritus Professor of the thermofluids laboratory.

The new design of tidal turbine. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Oxford)

UK waters are estimated to offer 10 per cent of the global extractable tidal resource. Tidal currents are sub-surface, so tidal turbines have minimum visual impact, unlike wind farms or estuary barrage schemes.

Tom Hockaday, managing director at Isis Innovation said: ‘This is the latest in a number of spin-outs from the Department of Engineering Science. Isis is fortunate to work with such an entrepreneurial department, particularly on technologies which have the potential to make a big impact on our energy supply.’

University of Oxford (2010, October 26). Harnessing tidal energy more efficiently than ever before. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 11, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/10/101026132204.htm

If you want to know more about tidal energy, you may click on the resources to lead you to more information. You may also use the search box to further lead you to other articles. If you want to contribute to this website, we would love to hear your suggestions! It would be great to have you share your thoughts about tidal energy.

The Original Post is Located Here: Harnessing Tidal Energy More Efficiently Than Ever Before

Due to the United Kingdom’s location in the northern temperate zone, the waves which reach the nation’s shores are predictable.  The winds far out at sea that create these waves are consistent and therefore easily measured. Available power that can be generated from the water’s renewable energy is anticipated from these measurements, and prime locations for wave farms are chosen from these findings.  Thanks to the steady nature of the prevailing winds off the United Kingdom’s north shore, the resulting waves’ energy potential can be anticipated five days in advance.

Pondering water power as an alternative energy source is nothing new in the United Kingdom.  The oil crisis of the 1970s prompted many researchers to turn to the possibilities of renewable energy.  At the University of Edinburgh, Stephen Salter invented a wave energy converter nicknamed Salter’s Duck.  This device was shaped like a teardrop and designed to bob on the ocean’s waves.  The bobbing motion would swing a pendulum located inside the floating “duck”, producing electricity.  This electricity would be transferred to lines hanging from the floating device to dedicated collection points connected to the grid.  Reportedly, the device could capture wave power with 90% efficiency.  Unfortunately, falling oil prices and a miscalculation of the production cost doomed Salter’s Duck.  It was never tested in the ocean.

Currently, a project is underway in the United Kingdom known as the Wave Hub.  Its intention is to demonstrate the methods by which wave power can be collected and transformed into electricity.  As part of the Wave Hub, a variety of wave energy converters will be used to demonstrate the operation of wave power’s conversion to electricity.  The devices will be tested in other areas, and upon completion of testing, be connected to the grid at locations agreed upon by the government.  Over the course of several years, electricity production will be studied in order to determine the most efficient water energy converters.  Not only does this allow researchers to develop effective methods by which to harness wave power, but the resulting electricity produced by the research is fed to the grid.

The island upon which the United Kingdom resides is an ideal place to harness and study the renewable energy found in wave power. There is wide range of Wave and Tidal Power Energy Manufacturers in the United Kingdom.

Plus, suppliers and consultants are located all over, so get started in making the most of renewable resources now!

The Original Post is Located Here: Catching A Wave In The United Kingdom

No matter what your ethics are with regard to the source of the power you use, its price will be highly relevant to you and it is believed by many people that renewable energy is expensive and that by switching their provider to green power they will face higher monthly bills. Wrong! Examples of these sources are solar cells, tidal power, wind generators and even hydro-electricity, and these are certainly cheaper than nuclear power plants and can be less expensive than traditional fossil fuels such as oil or coal-powered electricity generators.

Nevertheless, surely you would surey think very carefully if you were offered the possibility of switching your electricity provider to a green company that offered the choice between 100% renewable energy or a mixture of the two, would you not? Of course you would – with certain provisos.

Most people and businesses are usually fairly happy with their current gas and electricity suppliers; otherwise they would already have made the change. It would have to be a very good offer to persuade them to move to another provider. If the alternative was a source of power that was greener and renewable, then that would certainly be an incentive, although the problem is that in many cases people have no interest in whether their energy source can be sustained or not. All they are interested in is price.

Motives such as reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and saving the planet come second to hard cash generation in the eyes of corporations and some individuals. As long as it does what it has to do then the least expensive will be most preferred, and there are few doubts that oil and coal provide inexpensive electricity reliably and easily. In fact, renewable energy sources can work out at around 30% cheaper than traditional fossil fuel sources, and shoiuld render them very attractive propositions to corporations, non-profit organizations and also to individual consumers.

In spite of the facts many are unaware of this, and the green industries have done a very poor job in educating people on the true cost situation. If consumers: businesses, charity organizations or individuals, could be offered a source of green electricity that saved them up to 30% on their monthly bills they would certainly switch over.

In fact, that is the situation right now! By changing your electricity supplier to a green power source it is possible to reduce your electricity bills – but only with the right sustainable power provider. Another thing to keep in mind is that one day in not too distant future there will be no fossil fuels left and then what will happen? Your grandchildren having to tolerate nuclear power plants growing up all over the countryside?

No, I am sure not. Look around for the best green power offers available, and you will find that changing your electricity supplier is free, your monthly bills will drop, and your grandchildren will thank you for it.

The Original Post is Located Here: Going Green: Changing Your Electricity Provider to Green Power

There are less than 25 sites in the world that are capable of producing tidal energy. Because of the opposition of so many communities, there are not plants built to research and discover the use of tidal waves in energy. However, as the world’s nonrenewable energy sources begin to run out, tidal power could become very important for us to consider. By building barrages and dams across some of the rivers, you will be able to find that it will allow the tide to ebb and flow. As the water moves through the relatively small pipes, the power of the movement pushes turbines, which run huge electrical generators. However, this process will end up changing the ecosystem greatly because it will create dams of water. Changes in the ecosystem provide the main fuel for opponents of tidal barrages. Animals like certain birds, fish, and other species could end up becoming extinct for miles and miles. However, barrages could also help protect the shoreline from floods and storms. They also do not pollute the environment with chemicals or greenhouse gasses the way fossil fuels do.

The great thing about tidal power is that you will be able to predict it and come to rely on it. Because the tide ebbs and flows at certain times of the day, operators know exactly how much power will be generated and when. They require little upkeep and no fuel or energy to run. Overall, it is a very dependable and consistent source of energy.

You should know that there is more searches needed for the tidal power to become efficient. Because you are limited in the number of sites that there can be plants and you will find that it is not something that could have be a powerful energy source. However, it can be free and the power source is renewable. It could make a good alternative to fossil fuels, but the effects that it can have on the ecosystem will have to be taken into consideration and it may only be a good option for many countries.

Tidal power is just one of the alternative energies that the major companies are using to replace the fossil fuels and nuclear power. It is just a way that you can generate electricity from the water of the oceans. You will also find that people call this thermal energy conversion. The eclectic companies are trying to use things like the ocean water’s temperature, but this theory is still beginning to develop.

The ocean thermal energy conversion is still being studied and it is a very expensive process, however, once it is cost effective, you could find that it will be a top way of producing the world’s energy. There are plants for converting this energy on the shores, but then they are often found floating in the ocean or on the ocean shelves (which are not far from the land).

The basis of the idea is to use a large water intake pipe to pull very cold ocean water from a mile or more below the surface to the top of the ocean. Warm surface water is used to make a liquid with a low boiling point turn into steam, which expands to turn a generator. Then, the very cold seawater is pumped through, turning the vapor back into liquid so the process can happen all over again. As the water is then returned to the sea, you will notice that it is environmentally friendly and that the process itself is easy.

By placing the warm seawater into a low-pressurized container, it will begin to boil and then create a form of energy. This is known as the open-cycle system. As with the aforementioned procedure, it is easy and good for the environment. However, since the 1980′s the process has been studied and improved and the recent studies have proven that it can be over 95% efficient.

As for the process of converting, you will find that the seawater’s temperature difference into energy is a new method when it comes to all the research. You will find that there are power plants that are devoting more time and money to try to be safer for the environment and use fewer pollutants. You will find that the seawater method is being the focal point of the energy research project. However, like solar and geothermal power, it is also renewable and there are companies that want to produce the electricity in hopes of survival. You can turn to sources other than the fossil fuels to have the perfect energy opportunities. For those who live near the ocean, they will be able to find the conversion to be the type of power that you can live with and enjoy while supporting the best for the environment.

The Original Post is Located Here: Alternative Energy : Power Tidal, Thermal and Sea Water Energy

This is the reason scientist and researchers all over the world are thinking and looking for alternative sources of energy which are also renewable and available naturally. And such a source of energy is the energy found in areas having large tidal ranges.

France has been harnessing energy found in tides of bays and estuaries since 1966. Canada and Russia have followed suit and have also managed to generate electricity from tidal waves. Basically, it is possible to harness and generate electricity from places where there is a large tidal range.

This energy of tidal waves is harnessed by trapping the water so that it is used to turn turbines. The energy so produced is released through tidal barrages found in either direction. However, generally implementation of tidal power technology worldwide proves to have little potential because of its environmental constraints.

Another reason that is considered to be attributed to the low potential of tidal wave energy is that it would produce electricity more efficiently if it generates electricity in bursts at gaps of perhaps six hours. However this is not feasible as it is the limits of tidal energy applications that hinder the use of tidal energy.

This is why a new form of technology has been devised, to harness this tidal energy. This new technology is found in the form of tidal stream generators which tend to draw energy found in underwater currents. It could be said that the principle used here in these tidal steam generators is similar to the technology found in wind generators, which are powered by wind.

In such cases of generation of electricity by tidal power, the higher is the density of the water; the better is the potential for a single generator generating significant levels of power. However today, tidal stream technology is in its budding stages where there is much more research to be done before it can be said that tidal stream technology is an important part and contributor to the generation of energy.

There are a few prototypes that have been devised to harness tidal stream power, and show great promise in this direction. One such prototype is the 300 kW Seaflow marine current propeller type turbine that was tested off the coast of Devon of UK, in the year 2003. Another prototype is a 150 kW oscillating hydroplane device, called the Stingray that was tested off the Scottish Coast.

The Hydro Venturi is another British prototype that is slotted to be tested in San Francisco Bay pretty soon. In addition to all this, the Canadian company, Blue Energy has ideas of installing large arrays of tidal current devices on their tidal fence in various locations around the world. These devices are planned to be based following a vertical axis turbine design with which more tidal energy is produced efficiently in the world.

The Original Post is Located Here: The Power of Tidal Energy

So what is hydro power?

Well, basically it is the generation of electricity by using the natural force of water.

And how is hydro power generated ?

It is generated in 3 different ways: hydroelectric power, tidal power, and wave power.

Hydroelectric Power:

This is the most common form of hydro-power, making up the majority of all renewable energy produced.  Electricity is produced in hydroelectric dams where the force of falling water drives massive turbines.

The advantage of this type of power is that not only does it produce electricity, but the dam helps collect water for our use, so it’s a power and water source in one.  Furthermore, the force of the water is so strong that megawatts of electricity can be produced to help power entire cities.

There is also a large amount of control over how fast the turbines spin. If more power is needed, the controller simply opens the wicket gates more, which allows more water through the turbines and spins them faster.

The disadvantage is the devastating effect dams can have on plants, animals and even humans.  When dams are built they flood large tracts of land that were once occupied by various species and communities of people.  Furthermore, the water-borne animals, such as fish can also be affected.  An example would be salmon that are blocked from swimming upstream to spawn by the newly erected dam.

Tidal Power:

The second most popular type of hydro power, tidal energy is produced by currents caused from the natural ebb and flow of the tide.

This has been achieved by France and Russia since 1966 in areas with a large tidal range, such as bays and estuaries.  One of the systems of tidal power works by trapping water at high tide with a tidal barrage, then releasing that water in one quick burst at low tide.  This gushing water drives turbines to produce power.

Although the tides are very predictable and consistent, the problem with this system is that the turbines only operate every 6 hours (once every tide).

A second, more recent, tidal system looks very much like an underwater wind turbine.  Large windmill like turbines are sunk in shallow water, where they are slowly spun by shifting tidal water.

The advantage of this system is that it is an adaptation of an already technologically advanced wind turbine – so all the refinement has been done.  Furthermore, the dense water is far more efficient than wind at spinning these turbines. Thus even slow-moving water is just as effective as a strong wind.

The drawback is that the current systems can only be built in shallow water, where tidal activity is greatest. This is very limiting since many other economic activities – like oyster farming – occur in the shallows. Furthermore, these structures can damage marine life on the seafloor.

Wave Power:

This is the youngest of the three hydropower solutions.  The system harnesses the power from ocean surface wave motion, where air displaced by waves is driven through a generator than spins a turbine. The end result is electricity. These generators can either be coupled to floating devices outta sea, or fixed along the shore where seas are rough.

Although this technology is relatively new, it has been estimated that there is enough energy in ocean waves to produce up to 2000 Megawatts of power.

But, as with all hydro-power solutions, it has potential environmental issues.  Conservationists are worried about the impact these structures will have on the coastline’s fauna and flora. Also, there is a possibility of water pollution if – for example – the hydraulic fluids accidentally leaked into the sea. This can be expected if the wave generators are constantly battered by rough seas.

Closing thought:

Man has come up with ingenious ways to harness the power of nature to produce electricity, hydro power being one of them. Although it is an important renewable energy for the future, there is still much controversy over its long-term environmental impact.

The Original Post is Located Here: Types Of Hydro Power

The kinetic tidal power process uses turbines to produce the renewable energy. To understand this process think of windmills and visualize them underwater this is the means for kinetic tidal power. It is becoming increasingly more popular because its impact on our ecology is so much less dramatic than the building of dams, or what some refer to as tidal fences or barrages. The United States and other countries across the globe are studying their coastal areas with an eye for the suitability of the region for the production of kinetic tidal power. The ideal of these have high speeds of the water that occurs in the local channels as they enter the river or bay. Water currents in rivers that run between islands are especially good for tidal energy as the currents there are highly concentrated and often quite powerful.

Tidal energy, with solar and wind energy, are one of the most popular and well-touted of the sources of renewable energy. This is because ocean tides especially are caused by the orbit of our solar system. Ocean currents, as part of this process, happen because of the way winds are affected on the earths surface. This tidal power supply is, thus, deemed inexhaustible. The primary energy source here is the kinetic energy produced by the orbit of the system of earth and moon, and earth and sun. Tidal power has an excellent potential as a future source of the generation of electricity because the energy generated by these galactic rotations will continue unabated forever – or so scientists believe. Tidal power is not something new, however. European tidal mills have been a part of grain grinding operations for almost one thousand years.

How efficient tidal ocean dam power is depends on the height of the tidal swells rise and fall. This is commonly referred to as amplitude. This amplitude can be as high as 33 feet 10 meters. This occurs where the tidal waves are funnelled into fjords or rivers and water velocity is extreme. The speed of the water might be as fast as 16 knots. One example of this is Vancouver Island in Canada. Even greater amplitude is experiences in the Bay of Fundy, where the amplitude might reach 56 feet 17 meters. This is because the tides resonance amplifies the ocean waves.

Thus, we see that the selection of the right location for a tidal power generator is crucial to its success as an efficient source of green energy.

The Original Post is Located Here: What is Tidal Power

If you have ever been to the ocean, you were probably fascinated by the phenomena of the waves crashing against the shorelines as the tides came in. The ocean’s tides are the product of gravitational pull of the sun and the moon, as well as, the Earth’s rotation. It causes the ocean waters to be raised and lowered from time to time. The tides have cycles of twelve and one half hours, twice per day, and are easily predictable.

The use of tidal power is seen as early as the twelfth century where tidal mills used the force of the tides to grind grain and corn. The eighteenth century brought competition from windmills and waterwheels. Tidal mills pretty much became extinct with the invention of cheap steam engines. In 1967, France became the first to be able to put tidal wave power to work on a large scale to produce electricity.

The generation of electricity from tidal waves is similar to that of hydroelectric power generation. Bigger dams, known as barrages, are built on the bottom of a tidal basin. Gates on the barrage allow the tidal basin to fill during incoming high tides. Likewise, the basin will empty through a turbine during the outgoing tide. This would turn an electric generator for the production of electricity. There are also systems that generate electricity from incoming and outgoing tides. This system can have a negative effect on plants and animals in the area.

Tidal fences are also used to generate electricity. Vertical axis turbines are mounted on fences. Passing water is forced through the turbines. Ideal locations for these are channels between two landmasses. Tidal fences are cheaper than tidal barrages and cause less of an environmental impact on large marine life.

Tidal turbines are a new technology used for tidal energy. They are similar to wind turbines and are arranged underwater in rows. They work best in areas with strong tides. Although they are heavier and costlier to build, they also are capable of capturing more energy. They are also the least environmentally damaging of all the tidal power technologies, since they do not interfere with migration paths.

In order for tidal power to work successfully it requires a tide difference of at least sixteen feet. Unfortunately there are only a few places where this occurs. This means tidal power plants cannot just be constructed anywhere. There are only a handful of sites on Earth with this type of tidal range. At present, France is the only country that has been successful in using tidal power. It is hoped developments in technology, through research, will be made to allow better use of this, what is now, wasted energy. The future of tidal energy seems hopeful. Tidal power has great potential and hopefully we can make better use of it in the future in our quest to find a replacement for fossil fuels.

The Original Post is Located Here: Ocean Tidal Power as Renewable Energy

Jindo Uldolmok Tidal Power

A ceremony for the Jindo Uldolmok Tidal Power Plant was held in Uldolmok, an area off Jindo, an island in South Jeolla Province, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

The plant, harnessing the fast tidal movement in the area, will initially generate enough electricity to power 430 households.

The construction, started in April 2005, took 12.5 billion won ($9.9 million) to complete, the ministry said. All the technologies applied to building it were locally developed.

“It’s not official, but to our knowledge, it is the second tidal power plant in the world, after the United Kingdom built a tidal power plant in 2008,” said an official at the ministry, requesting anonymity.

“Building a tidal power plant requires high technology, which we think only a few countries have obtained so far.”

According to the official, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has asked to partner with Korea on tidal power technology.

The Korean government believes the Uldolmok Tidal Power Plant is a big stride to achieving its goal of generating 5,260 gigawatt hours using tidal power by 2020.

To that end, the ministry plans to extend the facility capacity of the Uldolmok plant by 2013 to provide electricity for around 46,000 households.

The expanded plant will have a 90 megawatt capacity, 90 times what it now has, the ministry said.

If the extension is made, it will be the world’s biggest tidal power plant, according to the ministry. With the operation of the extended power plant, Korea can save 200,000 barrels of crude oil every year, the ministry said.

The ministry is also conducting feasibility surveys on the sea near Jindo for the site of two additional tidal power plants.

“Low-carbon green growth is a solution to the fast depletion of fossil fuel energy and climate change,” said Choi Jang-hyun, land vice minister, during the completion ceremony for the Uldolmok plant.

“That’s the reason we are focused on the development of the sea, which is rich in renewable energy sources,” he added. According to the ministry, Korea is also set to roll out its first wave power plant, equipped with 25.4 kilowatt capacity, in Sihwa, Gyeonggi Province by the second half of next year.

Udolmok was the historical stage for a famous sea battle between Korea and Japan during the Joseon Dynasty. Thirteen ships led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated some 330 Japanese ships during the 1592-98 Imjin War, according to historical documents in Korea.

Yesterday’s ceremony was also attended by Park Jun-young, governor of South Jeolla Province, and 500 residents of Jindo. Korea imports 97 percent of its energy.

By Moon Gwang-lip

The Original Post is Located Here: Korea opens its first tidal power-generating plant