What Is Tidal Energy?
Tidal energy or Tidal power is a type of hydropower where the energy that is contained in the tides is used to make different type of energy like electricity. This is a technology that is not used widely across the globe, but has the potential to be one of the main ways to produce electricity in the future. Tides are considered to be more predictable unlike the solar energy or the wind energy and therefore will help in planning an execution to a much better level when it comes to tidal power plants. Tides are rise and fall that we get to see in the level of the sea surface and it is callused due to the gravitational pull that is exerted on them by the sun and the moon. There are times when the tide will rise and fall and it happens at particular times during the day making it predictable as easier to use.
Tidal Energy And Hydropower
Tidal energy is a form of hydropower, which is the most widely used renewable energy form. The potential energy that is stored in moving water is used to generate electricity and is all about harnessing the energy contained in water. The water can be used to turn turbines and this will produce electricity without having to use any fuel. Tidal energy also uses the energy stored in water, but in a different way there the rise and fall of the ocean level will be used to produce electricity. The amount of energy that is generated is dependent on the level the ocean surface will rise and will fall.
Producing Tidal Energy
There are three ways in which tidal energy is generated and they are
- Tidal Fences – they are giant turnstiles and it will have vertical axis turbines mounted on them. As the water will pass through the fence, the turbines will turn and will produce electricity.
- Tidal Barrages – This process involves creating of a huge dam across a river or an estuary. The dam will have tunnels in them and when the tide level rises, the level of water will increase in the dam and water will flow through the tunnels and will turn the turbines present thereby producing electricity.
- Tidal Turbines – This is the latest technology that is used in hydropower projects and it involves the using of turbines underwater. There are strong tidal flows that happen underwater and these turbines that are set underwater will capture that tidal flow to generate electricity. However these turbines have to be very strong in design as they will have to capture the strong tidal flows.
Benefits Of Using Tidal Energy
There are benefits of using tidal energy and the most important benefit is that they are predictable. Other sources like solar energy or wind energy are unpredictable at times and can hamper the energy production process. Tidal energy is highly reliable and is a renewable source of energy and above all it does not produce any greenhouse gases. This makes it a very good option for green energy production and is considered to be an option that will; be widely used for producing green energy in the future.
