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Scottish tidal energy has kept a underwater turbine spinning for 6 years (apnews.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/climate@slrpnk.net
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Submerged in about 40 meters (44 yards) of water off Scotland’s coast, a turbine has been spinning for more than six years....

The MeyGen tidal energy project off the coast of Scotland has four turbines producing 1.5 megawatts each, enough electricity collectively to power up to 7,000 homes annually.

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[–] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

One of the more badass sources of power. You've got uranium from supernovas, some form of captured solar energy, tapping the heat from the planet's core, or, in this case, directly slowing down the very rotation of the earth while pushing the moon away.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    That planetary core thing will probably be quite a way off, tho it last for millions of years. But the whole planet is swathed in tides, in-and-out.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (2 children)

    Yeah and any friction from tides(instead of free movement) slows the rotation and pushes the moon away. It's using the leverage of the gravity to perform work against the planet itself. Devices like underwater turbines, by extracting energy from the tidal currents, effectively increase this friction, which in turn amplifies the effect. The amount of energy naturally pulled out of this system is entirely dependent on the size of the tidal bulge and the shape of the seafloor/coast.

    As for geothermal, we do use it, but only in hot spots.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Sit down sometime, make a realistic model of tidal power usage, and then figure out how long it'd before before 'the moon being pushed away' becomes visible. Once you can do that, then come back here and tell us about your calculations.

    Of course the tides 'rubbing against' the Earth's surface have been 'pushing the moon away' at a far, far greater rate for billions of years. Big deal.

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