![]() Khojasteh and his colleagues came to this conclusion after modeling 978 different hypothetical estuaries with varying shapes, tidal ranges, and rates of sea-level rise, among other factors. In a recent paper, scientists including Danial Khojasteh, a hydrodynamics expert at the University of New South Wales, in Australia, show how sea-level rise could upend the viability of tidal energy in sites around the world, turning presently prime spots into duds. Read: Why the energy transition will be so complicated This last variable-sea level-is what threatens to throw a wrench in the world’s tidal-power plans. Rising and falling by up to 12 meters, the bay has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world.īut a site’s currents and tidal range, and its potential for tidal-power generation, are complex consequences of various factors, including the basin’s width, length, and shape the inflow from rivers and the height of the sea. The Bay of Fundy, in Atlantic Canada, for instance, is an ideal candidate. To produce energy, tidal generators need fast currents or a sizable swing in sea level between high tide and low tide. Globally, tidal power could potentially produce 150 to 800 terawatt hours of renewable energy a year-at the upper end, that’s more than Canada’s energy production from wind, water, nuclear, fossil fuels, and other sources combined in 2019.įor tidal-power generation, location is everything. Primarily generated by the gravitational pull of the moon, tidal power is more predictable than wind, and it works well alongside solar power, generating electricity at night when the sun is down but when people are still firing up their computers, televisions, and other appliances. Hidden in the ebb and flow of the tides is a wealth of energy. This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine.
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