Ocean currents and hydropower, solving the worlds energy problems without fusion dreams?

[Ferd]

Oregon State University is one of the leading researchers into this potential energy source.
https://www.oregon.gov/energy/energy-oregon/Pages/Marine.aspx

But to me, the big question isn't whether we can, but whether we should. Ocean currents and tides are VERY important for life on this planet. The Gulf Stream for instance is why Norway is inhabitable and Great Britain has such a mild climate for as far north as it is. Man has a bad track record of not understanding how things are interrelated. I even have concerns about wind power which pulls energy from a system (the atmosphere) and we don't even seem to question it's affects.

Edit: I should have used this link: https://pmec.oregonstate.edu/

This reminded me of some sci-fi movie where aliens invade planet and “suck” all its energy.... except in this case we are playing the role of the aliens....

Energy can’t be created nor destroyed, but it can be transformed, we are transforming the planet’s energy to do some work like electrical, mechanical energies but we also give the planet a lot of waste and garbage to deal with which is bad and already showing it’s effects on climate

I think first thing should be studied is the planet’s ability to recover the energy lost and figure out a maximum amount that can be extracted/transformed and work from there to find energy source solutions, not the other way around, which is what we’re doing right now , ie , we find a way to harvest energy and use it until we see side effects then we start thinking about alternatives

 

[sepheronx]

Think your looking at this problem wrong
whats needed is on shore fresh water managment.
The Problems mankind face is Food and more important Fresh water Shortages.
Suitable land needs development as water reservoirs.
These can be utilised as Hydro power generation
Fresh water aqua agriculture including farming fish for protein.
HE Turbine waste water diverted to Agrarian use ie crop Irrigation and water processing plants for potable drinking water.

You Don't need power unless your population has food and potable Water Security.

Want an Example
look to Saudi Arabia

they have invested massive amounts of money in Desalination plants so they can provide water for their people and their agriculture (they are trying to farm on Desert sand ). They also considered towing Ice burgs from Antarctica to mine for water. Ultimately they will fail due to climate change.
With Climate change driving up Temps Vast Swathes of land between the Tropics will become uninhabitable without Technological intervention. This is going to drive Global migration as people seek Food and Water Security.
Wars will Occur as Nations seek water security.

Hint "one is already Brewing in East Africa" as Egypt / Sudan /Ethiopia squabble about the Resorces on the Nile River.

Well, it mostly has to do with the dam in Ethiopia that is causing some troubles. But even with that said, Torrential rain still causes major flooding in countries such as South Sudan (in their part of the Nile) where a lot of technology could be used there in order to create some kind of reservoir for water.

But that country is so under developed that I dont think it will ever get that kind of development until Egypt tells others to take a hike and invests in South Sudan bypassing any kind of sanctions.

You are 100% though on the food/water part. Something most ignore. China already has a problem and pays Russia for example a decent Premium for Baikal fresh water. They tried to open a bottling plant but it caused a major uproar from the population that the government intervened and stopped it.

 

[mb194dc]

Fusion power is decades away most probably. Don't see ocean currents being much better and potentially could interfere with marine ecosystems.

Geothermal is where it's at. Need to utilise the heat from within the earth. Just need to dig down and figure out how best to convert it to electricity.

 

[InVasMani]

Thermoelectric generators needs more innovation. If it had any anywhere near the the level of innovation of these nm chips I have to imagine they would work quite well. Thinking about it further 3D stacking them with TSV would really help improving the process for chip technology in turn. Basically you could a 3D stacked TEG that you cool on one end and heat on the other, but produces quite a lot of energy in turn. On another note with TEG's once they improve wearable ones we can put them on cows for free energy while they live in the matrix.