The Truth About Hydropower - Is Tidal Energy the Future?

[@UndecidedMF]

So what do you think of hydropower? Be sure to check out Terra Mater for more detail on how hydropower is impacting the environment in surprising ways: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpetlYd5otCil6M And get 15% off your 2046 Print Shop order: bit.ly/2046-Undecided

[@krishnachandranM]

In my place, DAMs are putting most of the required power supply. At the same time it has started raising environmental impact concerns and due to age of some of the existing ones, the risk of accidents is also there. Yet the government is not able to adapt to an alternative source other than national grid (which is fed with coal plants). There were announcements for subsidized solar installations at home, nothing went smoothly.

[@adrianconnolly8568]

when you stated that you should include the manufacture of solar and wind power into the environmental cost, you and others forget to add how much it would be to replace a coal plant with another coal as they two have life span, an need to be replaced, on top of the running costs.. if you add that to the factor then solar and wind make it logical sense to go with renewables, and so do's hydro

[@DarkOkie]

i am interested to see a full video (That i can share) that breaks down the Entire Cost of Coal... Gas... Oil... Nuclear... Hydrogen... Renewables... as so many place Lie about this by omitting some info from the work making renewables look worse because of it!? Landarea / Materials / Creation / Usage / Decommissioning / Subsidies / Etc so many lie....

[@scarface3690]

Fish dont matter

[@MrWhiteBridge]

minesto.com/ Here is one swedish tidal energy design. they are currently testing one kite on the Faroe Islands.

[@terramater]

Hey Matt, your channel and your audience are awesome and it has been a great pleasure working with you! Thanks for the collaboration! 🤗

[@UndecidedMF]

It was a pleasure working with you too!

[@samuelazevedo9112]

As a long term fan of Matt's, I can say he has a lot of credibility with his expansive audience of fans. When he recommends an organization, particularly one whose work supports the environment, we listen. After watching his video, I'll immediately jump over to yours and most probably like and subscribe.

[@erik.hansen]

I am also a long term follower and really appreciate these videos! I'm curious about how the maintenance numbers were calculated that put wind over hydro. I'm a power Engineer in British Columbia, Canada and that doesn't ring true in my mind. Construction cost, both financial and environmental, I understand but I disagree with the operational cost side. Also, I really like how quickly you talk, haha. Love the speed delivery of information in these videos! 😂🤣

[@fromthebay9925]

7:15 "Water is not subject to market fluctuation." Nestle: Challenge accepted.

[@JNatella]

@@AustinThomasPhD And the guy who shorted the housing market in 2007 profiled in the move "The Big Short" has been saying water is a good investment for a while....

[@markhaus]

It’s even worse than that it’s now traded as futures. Fcking bleak

[@davefoc]

@@JNatella Water situation in California is on the scary side for the long term. Lots of water being pumped out much faster than it is being replenished. Lots of land subsidence as a result. One more thing to worry about, more for my kids though.

[@Sophocles13]

And you just wait till the H2O starts unionizing!

[@Sophocles13]

@@davefoc I did a paper on that in College... bleak is a massive understatement. The Colorado river hasn't even made it to the ocean since the 1960's because of how much its dammed up and used up. I'm not sure how the powers that be can tax systems so extensively and expect no repercussions... Also, I'm fairly certain that the next large scale war will be over water. If you think hunger makes people desperate, imagine what thirst will do...

[@buckanderson3520]

Tidal energy is cool because you're harnessing the moon.

[@ep2223]

When you harness the energy from the shift in currents, does it not affect the overall balance of nature and the shift in weather patterns around the world. If you say "NO", then show definitive proof that changes do not occur!

[@kadencurrie9475]

@@ep2223 bro. They literally have dams everywhere controlling current.

[@ep2223]

@@kadencurrie9475 But that's exactly my point. I don't deny they exist, but just what effects are they causing? How do you know that these dams and other devices aren't causing global weather shifts?

[@skyz3ra]

@@ep2223 it could. Since it blocks energy that was supposed to flow somewhere.

[@joshuastrong2398]

You’re harassing the moon is what I heard

[@simperdesignswede7878]

The swedish tidal power company Minesto is using underwater kites that swims in loops against the current, thus producing a lot more power than conventional turbines. The company has since this week successfully started to deliver power to the grid in the faroe island. :) GO TIDAL POWER

[@pebblepod30]

Do you know if the kite or tyrbije things kill or injure wildlife?

[@simperdesignswede7878]

@@pebblepod30 Since it´s travelling so slowly in the water it is highly unlikely that it would injure wildlife. I´m sure Minesto has made some safety assessments regarding this :)

[@TheGamingDroid9000]

@@pebblepod30 undoubtedly there is an impact on wildlife, however cooking the planet will be a bigger impact, right now I think the human race needs to hit the damage control button hard,

[@seldenkovs]

I have invested in Simec Atlantis to support it

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

Yes, hydro has a huge impact to rivers and fish living there because it floods and blocks a huge area but you also forgot how amazing they are for avoiding floods because their mentioned storage capacity can also be used as buffer to avoid floods or to store water to be used during droughts. In my country we have almost iliminated the problem of floods using dams, increased agriculture efficiency and made rivers be easily navigable and return a lot of money with touristic cruises. We had huge success with hydro.

[@Rig0r_M0rtis]

Oh, and what is this paradise on Earth called?

[@nathanbanks2354]

It's curious that whenever people talk about nuclear energy they mention Chernobyl, but people rarely mention the Banqiao Dam when they talk about hydro power despite the fact it killed far more people.

[@benadams5557]

What's the new dam in china that impounded so much water it causes earthquakes from the weight shifting the tectonic plate?

[@hamiltonmasseyii4747]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipjYiaGQfNJ2nLc

[@iron60bitch62]

That’s a very very good point I think the future will be nuclear everyone seems to want to deny that the sun is a nuclear produced power source but since it’s so far away we don’t have to deal with lethal levels of radiation

[@MrKnutriis]

@@iron60bitch62 Sure we do - ever heard of skin cancer?

[@gwendolinkirkegaard1812]

@@iron60bitch62 tho we're not talking about nuclear fission (like current technology) but nuclear fusion in the sun. That's a huge difference, in power output as well as in consequences (which is why fusion reactors are researched). Also, literally all problems we have with nuclear fission reactors would be solved if those things were as far away as the sun. So the sun isn't a good argument for nuclear fission on earth.

[@andrewemerson1613]

those low speed water paddle things that sat at the bottom of rivers or maybe even a creek seem pretty neat

[@Deontjie]

Being a surfer, I haven't met something that the sea will not destroy.

[@rickdees251]

That includes any equipment put in it.

[@grogery1570]

Maintenance of these systems is their Achilles heel.

[@michaellewis9275]

@@grogery1570 Too expensive to maintain, not cheap power !!!

[@A3Kr0n]

I read "tidal power" and I'm instantly transported to the 1970s reading a Popular Science magazine.

[@weathergage]

8:55 finally tidal energy.

[@tlookingfora5336]

Oceanic tidal energy is disruptive to the tidal currents and will cause a loss of overall tidal energy and will result in movement of tidal streams. So, yes, think real climate change. Intelligent people can be so stupid sometimes.

[@saswotlamichhane5862]

"Water is the driving force of all Nature" has never been wrong also if we do not learn to eliminate waste and to be more productive and more efficient in the ways we use energy, then we will fall short of this goal [for the Nation to derive 20 percent of all the energy we use from the Sun, by 2000]. But if we use our technological imagination, if we can work together to harness the light of the Sun, the power of the wind, and the strength of rushing streams, then we will succeed.

[@gsuituser9291]

One more - *"If opportunity doesn't knock the door, Build the door" -Milton Berle*

[@iareid8255]

George, Very well and succinctly put. It's a huge pity that politicians and the media are not so well informed

[@tonyhartness2123]

@George Mann Thank you. I only wish everyone could read and understand this.

[@ramonjoserodriguez9719]

A little disappointed, since tidal enegry had little coverage I was wondering by the title that the content had more focus on that...

[@firefox39693]

I'm surprised he didn't mention the Bay of Fundy, in Atlantic Canada.

[@AWildBard]

It's true, he didn't really focus much on tidal energy in this video. It was a small sidebar compared to the overall topic. Not the best title for the video. Maybe he wanted to do a video about tidal energy and got distracted by getting into the background.

[@donraptor6156]

Why? The Issues maintaining the systems from underwater growth are insane!

[@SamiCoopers]

I like the wave energy air turbines, where the wave moves up and down in a closed chamber. The air in the chamber is pushed out and sucked back in through a turbine. I think it would be easier to maintain than underwater turbines. Also rather than placing them on our precious coastlines, you could have a sealed tunnel to the turbines further inland.

[@eclipsenow5431]

@@SamiCoopers There's also CETO which is an underwater buoy that moves up and down, pumping high pressure water onto shore where it could be desalinated or drive a turbine. Apparently Western Australia has 10 times the potential resource that WA requires. www.herox.com/blog/221-harnessing-the-waves-the-ceto-wave-power-station

[@rebelgordo2339]

Wow wow wow. Half way through this video and I am impressed. It is awesome to see someone who doesn’t just call renewable useless but also doesn’t skim over the downsides

[@Dave5843-d9m]

Why is new nuclear ignored? We have technology which can use the irradiated waste fuel to feed their reactors. They solve the long term storage issue and they get 20x as much power per kg of fuel as the original plants were able to take. The resultant waste has a short half life. These plants are intrinsically safe so why don’t we have them?

[@johnmyviews3761]

High project costs, long lead time and waste storage as weir as decommissioning costs

[@andyfeimsternfei8408]

Good job Matt. I've been a hydro engineer for over 40 years. I say all turbo (rotating machinery) electrical generation is dead, at least I hope it is. This includes hydro, wind and steam. Nothing can compete with solar and battery storage. Lastly I'm not a big believer in "new" hydro technology. Hydro turbines have been 85-90% efficient for well over 100 years, not a lot of room for improvement. I've seen so many high-tech turbines come and go, most getting 3-5% more efficiency only to fly apart after a few years. Tidal and river flow turbines are simply a waste of time and money. Too much machinery for too little power. None of this will ever be economically viable.

[@phillipalexandermcgregorme9850]

It's looks like the slow flow of discarded water is of posible application. Considering that all options are on the table.

[@phillipalexandermcgregorme9850]

@@kenthhamner2641 it depends on the sistem all recuperate solid and use in landfills it's best if they are clear of non organic.

[@wd8786]

Hydro power potential is limitless but wind is showing signs of it's costs being out of control. Maintenance, damage to blades and total failures has taken the shine off of that tech. Damage to birds and the visual effects, eyesore all leads me back to to water. Water is a great source of energy.

[@konfunable]

Oh, cool pump hydroplant you showed as example is in Lithuania, Kruonis.

[@okboomer1241]

While you did actually mention the diff between Tidal Turbines and all other hydropower, those 10 seconds are actually the entire nut. Sorry for the length of this comment, but somebody's got to say it. Nobody ever defines the various types of power generation by the two most salient categories governing electricity, precharged battery or uncharged battery; batteries included or batteries sold separately. The former is provided by the planet itself, the latter we must build/provide. Topping the list of precharged batteries are coal, nat gas, and petroleum. All 3 are just batteries sitting there waiting for us to tap; they came included with the planet. Need more electricity? Just dial up the fire to produce more steam to turn the turbine faster. Need less electricity, just dial down the fire. Easy peasy. Trouble is you people are all afraid of the CO2. Next is traditional hydropower in the form of storage, diversion, and now various instream submersibles as you highlighted. Need more electricity, just dial open the valve for more water flow to turn the turbine faster. In the case of submersibles the turbine/wheel speed is fixed so you just dial up how much you need of the electricity constantly being generated. Traditional hydropower is the only "renewable" with this dial-ability feature, the only one that is a precharged battery. Trouble is you can run out of water. Next is Nuclear Power. Need more electricity? Just lower the rods to make more heat to make more steam to turn the turbine faster. Trouble is the radiation, duh. All these power "sources" are de facto precharged batteries that came with the planet; "batteries included." That's why we use them and that's why they're cheap compared to all other types of power generation, which we label "renewable energy". For "renewables" to be effective we must build a battery for them to charge so that we can then draw the electricity when we need it; infamously stated as "solar power doesn't work at night, nor wind power if the wind won't blow." And when it comes to "Tidal Energy", it doesn't work at slack tide, and when the tide is running the speed varies widely throughout its cycle. It starts slowly from slack tide, builds speed to its max, then tapers off to slack tide again. All you people who want to see "renewables" become viable (and I'm all for that), STOP pouring time, money, resources and effort into better generation (better solar panels etc), it's utterly pointless. Pour everything into a battery technology breakthrough. The person who does this will make Jeff Bezos look like a beggar. Tidal Turbines are a total and complete waste of time until we have a major major breakthrough in battery technology.

[@Hawkman6788]

Love your videos man!! I feel super inspired every time I watch. Greetings from Salt Lake City, Utah.

[@UndecidedMF]

Thanks, Jason. Really appreciate that ... and greetings from Boston!

[@adamlytle2615]

Given the valid concerns about hydro power's impact on the surrounding landscape, I've often wondered if it would be worthwhile to install smaller hydro generators like the ones from Turbulent along urban waterways. These are often /usually already artificially buttressed with concrete, steel, etc to prevent erosion. Wonder how viable/cost effective it would be, especially combined with water-based heat pump for district heating.

[@hrushikeshavachat900]

That's called in-pipe energy and is also under consideration to reduce the dependence in fossil fuel

[@totality_seeker]

Well presented and very informative. Living in south east England makes me wonder if all the off shore windfarms are missing a trick. The infa structure is already there surely the addition of hydro power turbines could work in Tandem and increase effiency and output,Food for thought indeed!. Great Work.

[@sethkritarth]

Hi Matt, How feasible do you think it is to have offshore wind turbine, and on the same structure, a couple of tidal turbines under water. It might save infrastructure cost. Structurally, I think it will increase vibrations, but making the whole structure bottom heavy will make it more stable. The structure would look like O----8 (but vertical, with 8 underwater). 40m wind and 2x 16 m tidal= 3 times energy on the same structure.

[@lexnite22]

So just wondering, why doesn't the Hoover Dam surround itself with solar panels and some big Tesla Megapacks, to help with the intermittent power drain?

[@CharlesGregory]

It doesn’t need to - it already has storage. All that water behind the dam is equivalent to thousands of Tesla Megapacks.

[@leonadams1053]

In other words, it’s that kind of thinking (CG’s) that prevents more holistic, broad based solutions from being implemented.

[@CharlesGregory]

@@leonadams1053 What's the problem to which solar/batteries is the solution? The only thing I could think of would be if the transmission lines from the site were underutilised, and solar could generate at a lower per/kWh cost than the hydro, then solar could supplement power supplied from the site during the day, saving the hydro for other times, but that's a bit of a stretch. On-site solar could be useful at a pumped hydro site, but Hoover isn't one, not yet anyway.

[@gasdive]

They're doing that in China. Floating solar panels work better as they're cooler. It reduces evaporation. During the day the hydro generators stop, and they pick up again at night, maximising the investment in transmission lines.

[@AWildBard]

In terms of energy efficiency, the Hoover Dam is kind of far away from Las Vegas and other places where the power goes. I think it would be better to put the solar panels and batteries closer to the places where people are using power.

[@MrBluemoonhalos]

I remember seeing a documentary or something on tidal energy. Where they tryed to place a prototype turbine at the bottom of the Hudson River. It placement failed several times as the current of the river was too strong to do it safely.

[@LongDistanceSailor]

Tell us ... The truth about marine growth. Barnacle growth make systems like this impractical in most true tidal areas. All your success stories were fresh water and there are few big fast rivers worldwide.

I agree but they could electrify the blades just enough to prevent barnacle growth(Up goes the cost) Just an idea. But I agree with you.

[@LongDistanceSailor]

@ I live and travel the world on a sailboat with my wife. kzbin.info Barnacles are just not that easy to kill. No electrical system has worked. We spend a lot on hauling our boat out of the water and painting it with crazy expensive paints. Still doesn't work for long.

[@wbtittle]

@@LongDistanceSailor Thank you.

[@hughmanatee7433]

I’m a great advocate for hydropower. It is true that there are environmental impacts but they don’t come close to the dangers of fossil fuel or nuclear. They work day or night and without impact from the weather. The new designs will reduce the environmental impacts even more. We have used rivers for a very long time but the power of the oceans represent the largest source of power on earth. It is long past time to start to use it. I remember Jacques Cousteau talking about this in the 1960’s. Check out the power station at Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia. It is quite remarkable, it is a dam across a tidal river which uses temporary impoundment of the the tide. The dam closes at low tide, allowing seawater to impound outside the dam. It then opens up allowing the water to flow in and make power. Once the water is up in the river it closes and waits for the tide to go out and then makes power again as the water flows out. I watched it work one day while fishing nearby. The ecosystem is strong, there were tons of mussels and striped bass around. It seems to be a great system. It supplies almost all of the power for Atlantic Canada.

[@zachhoy]

where are you getting all your footage!?! Looks like you've got a production team with assets now

[@Voroniel]

@ 0:15 that looks like stock footage of vidraru lake & dam; replying in case anyone else wants to know where that is.

[@matthewbergeron3641]

*Builds a litteral under water blender* "It's eco friendly"

[@dewiz9596]

Once again, a thought-provoking piece. Thank you.

[@UndecidedMF]

Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@goodtoshi]

At first I also confused him with Just have a think guy

[@jeffhuff1000]

DISCLAIMER:. I work in the hydro industry for an OEM of hydropower equipment Most of the dams in the US were originally intended for flood control. In some areas there is a push to return the water ways to their original condition before dams. This is dangerous due to flood control being removed as a consequence. Hydro power is the most power dense of all alternative/renewable power sources and can be scheduled much better than wind of solar. It is an integral part of balancing our power systems and enables wider adoption of wine and solar which are difficult to schedule and are intermittent and spikey in their output. Hydro definitely has a bigger environmental impact compared to wind and solar, but nowhere near that of legacy carbon based power generation and the impact is very low concerning carbon emissions. Combined with the flood control benefits, hydropower should continue to be a key component of power generation IMHO.

[@MrBluemoonhalos]

Matt, You forgot Nuclear Reactors and Micro Nreactor Reactors as a green source of energy.

[@flatmooner4691]

-Ssshh! - Don't upset the 'green' movement and those who sponsor them. -those investors gotta get the money back they got from installing those hideous bird killing monstrosities. -You know, with a 90% government subsidy on each one, it's a win, win! -Let's just keep building, forget about the consequences! It's all money!

[@MrBluemoonhalos]

@@flatmooner4691 lol

[@johnehrenreich6543]

Major environmental impact of windmills occurs after they fail. In most cases they are abandoned because the cost to take them down

[@Jemalacane0]

Hydropower is one of the greatest sources of energy. Wind and solar are *not* gaining ground. Wind turbines have been around for *1,000 years* and wind power still sucks as the wind is inherently unreliable and grid scale storage is a joke (unless you have a reservoir).

[@UndecidedMF]

Sorry to say, but the numbers contradict your point. Wind and solar are growing rapidly for the amount of power they supply our grids. Hydro's percentage share is shrinking ... mainly due to the costs. It's far more economical to install wind or solar $/MWh.

[@Jemalacane0]

@@UndecidedMF That doesn't alter the fact that wind and solar both dilute and unreliable sources of energy. Unreliable energy will never be affordable. To add insult to injury, it can be too windy for wind turbines to work and by too windy, I'm not talking about a tornado or hurricane.

[@Jemalacane0]

@@UndecidedMF Numbers don't like and Washington state and Idaho have the cheapest electricity in the U.S.

[@Jemalacane0]

@@UndecidedMF Grand Coulee Dams generating capacity was built for 79¢/watt in 2019 dollars.

[@factnotfiction5915]

@@UndecidedMF "Hydro's percentage share is shrinking ... mainly due to the costs". I believe a more consistent explanation is that new hydro isn't being built (due to siting, because all the good spots have been taken). So in a growing electricity sector, naturally hydro's % will decline, even if its absolute energy generation is steady or even growing slightly.

[@AWildBard]

One thing I thought of when you were talking about the cost of hydroelectric power is that dams are expensive, but there are more uses than just power. People recreate in and around the lake, and water is used for irrigation and drinking. Also, another cost is silt build-up in the reservoirs behind the dams.

[@heyhoe168]

Water in lakes get far bigger evaporation area then it has naturally. So basically, hydro dams drains a lot of water out of river system. It does not help irrigation at all.

[@roberthart9886]

Im 72. When I was a youngster, I remember Popular Science cover with ocean turbines. What happened?

[@TCt83067695]

Capitalism is what happened sir. You know how it is. The greedy 1% ruin everything

[@mrrolandlawrence]

@@TCt83067695 thats not capitalism, its protectionism. the well connected few enjoying a life free from competition or scrutiny.

[@TCt83067695]

@@mrrolandlawrence sounds like capitalism to me dawg

[@TCt83067695]

@@mike1043 democratic socialism would be a good place to start. Norway and Denmark and Sweden seem to be doing just fine. No one there has lost incentive or starved. In fact by every metric, their standard of living is better.

[@TCt83067695]

@@mike1043 you're contradicting yourself my friend. You can't acknowledge democratic socialism (or social democracy if we wanna be less imprecise) does work in Norwegian countries and then in the same breath say it "never works". What do they have 2heads over there? Why can it work for them but not for Americans?

[@ivancho5854]

The big problem with tidal energy is that the turbines are extremely maintenance heavy in an environment difficult and costly to access. Compare them to conventional hydro power plants which are extremely easy to shut down and maintain with very low cost. Sea bed turbines will fail or shut down exactly when the weather makes it impossible to get to them, sometimes for months and the infrastructure to maintain them is specialised and costly. Due to the water density the lateral forces on turbines are staggering, in addition the marine environment is extremely corrosive. The question goes far beyond the promise of capturing the enormous quantity of energy in the sea. We simply are unable to currently build underwater versions of wind turbines which can survive the maritime conditions for any length of time. Low speed river bottom devices and low speed turbines mentioned in the video offer a far more realistic and achievable addition to the renewable energy mix and the fish friendly nature of them is to be commended. They require to survive much more predictable forces, are inherently less sophisticated, operate in a less hostile environment and especially with good design are much easier to access for maintenance. Unfortunately they are inherently small scale projects as are all distributed energy generation programs, hence they will never attract the attention, nor be as news worthy as energy generation on the multi billion dollars scale. I believe that marine hydro turbines (and also wave power) will offer promises very similar to fusion power and continue to be just a few years away for many decades and probably never achieve the success claimed by it's proponents. Of course I would be delighted to be wrong.

[@TheRustyLM]

Well said. Total waist of money. Will forever be too corrosive and way too inefficient. The West is removing dams to save the environment/fish.

[@20_percent]

If you’re going through rough times, please don’t give up. Better times are coming ❤️

[@Sekir80]

Yay, Turbulent Hydro mentioned! I think every village and town which has a suitable water flow should have one or better, more!

[@givemeabreak8784]

And the big energy providers will get busted ? Do you know the shareholders are the richest people of the planet?

[@justanerd414]

@@givemeabreak8784 and who do you think is going to make, sell and profit from the equipments required?

[@beback_]

I think hydro is the second most promising zero carbon energy source, after nuclear.

[@HandSolitude]

Hydro is cheaper power. It's the most cost effective and functional.

[@GrandmasterLix]

Preach! 👋

[@lindam.1502]

Better because there's none of that pesky toxic waste to get rid of....not to mention not having HUGE costs to build maintain and decommission the nuclear plants.

[@BingBongFYaLife]

You glossed over the massive issue with hydroelectric dams regarding salmon runs. You acknowledged that they have “wildlife impact issues”, but the impact they’ve had on salmon species intinction and population depletion is huge. We will need food to eat while we have our clean energy too, and salmon is a big food source.

[@UndecidedMF]

You should check out Terra Mater’s video on this ... they cover that side of it.

[@michaelfelder2640]

Ever thought about doing a deep dive into home micro hydro power generation? My favorite is The Vortex by Turbulent . It can easily power 60 homes in the USA with just a 4 foot drop in elevation. Anyways, good video from you.

[@robinsss]

it's the same as diversion river method at 3:18 the only difference is that the turbine used in run of river produces more electricity than the vortex version

[@joecummings1260]

Oh please, even without factoring in losses you need 4,200 gallons of water flow per minute and a 5-ft drop to make a lousy five horsepower. That's about enough for 3500 Watts or enough to run one house if you watch your power consumption. And the stupid Whirlpool vortex thing is not a plus it's a minus whirlpools in vortexes are something that people like engineers who design these things for living work hard to avoid. That whole vortex thing is nothing but a scam the fool the ignorant

[@robinsss]

@@joecummings1260 i agree that the whirlpool vortex would not create a large amount of energy i think they should use the type of turbine used in the Hoover dam then the idea would deliver more energy

[@mitchellthompson3512]

Nova Scotia has the highest ice-free tidal fluctuations in the world (appx. 50ft of water level difference between low and high tide). Two different organizations tried to harvest energy from our tides but their turbines failed because they were pummeled by giant hurtling boulders moved by the intense current. All future attempts are abandoned.

[@ashishpatel350]

you should do a video on geothermal heating and cooling and passive houses. from cost to construction.

[@celtickitc]

I live 5 miles from the ocean. I always wondered why the government hasn't invested in hydropower. The ocean waves are a perfect energy source.

[@mlkelley68]

You are more than halfway through the video and haven't even mentioned tidal energy.

[@UndecidedMF]

Fair point.

[@hrushikeshavachat900]

Tidal energy is an important part of our answer to global warming. It is one of the few sources which is a source of renewable energy with 1. low environmental impact 2. Minimum impact on local ecosystems 3. Capable of delivering base load. Additionally, the turbines method of harnessing tidal power, can be couple with off-shire wind to further reduce the impact of these systems.

[@pebblepod30]

I am concerned about the turbines killing or injuring wildlife.

[@flatmooner4691]

Well, have you swam in a public swimming pool underwater and got your hair almost ripped off by the filter at the bottom of the pool? -Fish gonna be happy as that too.

[@chdcalifornia880]

I had this idea for energy generation 20 years ago. Biggest problem to me is transporting the electricity very long distances without significant losses.

[@jackmcandle6955]

The way id like to see it tried is having a cable with giant umbrella like pods attached running and oval in tidal canal which would collapse on the the return run the torque at the axles would be enormous enough to pump water to an upper lake and to also set another system in the opposite flow to have 10-11 hrs of constant electricity. Simple Right?

[@paulbart3156]

Has anyone studied what happens when you extract energy from the undersea currents? At one stage CO2 did not seem to be a problem either.

[@karldavis7392]

The "construction phase" of almost anything generally creates the highest environmental impact. People often focus on disposal and forget construction, like when comparing paper vs. plastic bags. Plastic bags are worse for disposal, but for construction and shipping, paper bags are far worse. Some of the laws that prohibit plastic bags but permit paper bags seem blind to this - or perhaps their only goal is to reduce lasting litter.

[@outofcompliance1639]

Carbon emissions should not be the driving force of energy production.

[@terryrogers8965]

The first couple of attempts at putting Tidal Power Generators at the bottom of the Bay of Fundy (home of the largest tides in the world) met with failure, their machines were basically destroyed. They are still trying new installations and of course there is opposition with concerns about the effect it will have on marine life and local fisheries. I have heard about another system that I don't think you mentioned is coastal wave generation that if I recall correctly is a thing in the UK.

[@aritakalo8011]

Yeah. Main problem with any sea based power be it tidal or sea wave power is.... TOO MUCH energy. There is so much energy in the sea waves and tidal movements, that it rips apart mechanical systems with ease. So system has to be very very robust to withstand it. Some of this is the coastal wave stuff you mention. Sometimes with nothing as complex as blades or rotors, but stuff like buoy on a cable moving up and down or hinged plate moving back and worth. all massive mooring at the bottom and having magnetic actuators or possibly pneumatic cylinders getting moved to generate moving magnetic fields to electricity or pressure to run internal power turbines. Full sized rotor is rather bold in sea, where unlike in hydro power house, one can't condition the water to behave as wanted and in case of excess limit the flow. I think somebody tried like a floating platform with a lift ramp and drop turbine. The sea in short order said Nope, and next storm ripped the floating platform of it's moorings, ripped some of the floats and the platform ended up capsized crashed at coast.

[@moviezaftermidnight6348]

we are energy of future, so get on a bike..

[@kirkjohnson9353]

So you see humanity powering up on individual bikes , putting power into a grid, linked together in sort of a... matrix?

[@moviezaftermidnight6348]

@@kirkjohnson9353 lol, no.. meaning work from home or live closer to our work avoiding the 1-2 hour commute. A small handful of changes can make all the difference in society. It would be a much stronger economy to have 100 people with 10 million dollars each at a personal asset cap, compared to 1 billionaire consolidating the worlds wealth of phantom currency..

[@FreekHoekstra]

I appreciate the collaboration with Terra mater, however it would’ve been nice to have also included some of the major and surprising downsides of Hydro power in this video directly. leaving terra mater to go more in depth. I feel like I didn’t get all the information needed because of this split format. While one of the reasons I love this channel is the well-rounded complete view you strive to provide.

[@yarimuchi7864]

Hey, I'm early;

[@rockyp3917]

This is the best channel for renewables on KZbin

[@chrisofnottingham]

FYI, plenty of people like me will NEVER watch any video titled "The Truth About..."

[@Wookey.]

Yeah, that is a big flashing 'beware, bullshit and loonies' sign. I happen to know Matt is not a nutter, but it is a dumb title.

[@cal88usa]

Thank you for another awesome video. Can’t wait to see the next video

[@UndecidedMF]

Thanks for watching! And definitely more to come.

[@flatmooner4691]

Fantastic! - Seen as we are chopping up birds we can now chop up fish too! As if the fisheries of the world aren't doing enough damage already. Freshly prepared 'meals for the seals' who are lucky enough to avoid those blades.. -And better still, just think, we can link this with underwater 'Sushi restaurants' -Turdburg and friends would be so happy! Great for 'Fish & Chop' shops too! -The future is fish that's been fingered!

[@ramonpunsalang3397]

Please consider doing s video on Liquid Air/Cryogenic Storage tech. It compares favorably with Li-ion battery storage and addresses a number of it's limitations.

[@herbb8547]

While I am not a fan of either solar or wind energy due to the intermittent availability, high cost and limited return on energy, I do believe that hydro energy has great potential. All one has to do is watch the tide come in any pass or inlet to see the tremendous amount of energy involved. The amount of energy flowing in a river is tremendous. If industry can develop ways to harness that power in an environmental and effective manner, it could go a long ways towards providing stable energy sources.

[@updlate4756]

Energy storage and green energy generation are certainly important, but the fastest way to reduce emissions is by rapidly cutting energy use across the planet, and there are loads of simple things we could do to accomplish that. Specifically with regards to transportation: 1) Move to a 4 day work week from 5 reduces commuter based emissions by 20% overnight. ALL commuter based emissions. 2) Enfoce a mandatory work from home policy 1-2 days per week for office workers would reduce office commute emissions by an additional 20-40% overnight. 3) Push for more bike friendly commuter policies and infrastructure, and for every day per week a person choose to bike to work instead of drive could further reduce commuter based emissions by 20% . Biking can apply to office and non-office workers alike. 4) Improve public transportation in suburban areas which due to low population density has a serious public transit use problem. These areas require too many routes and too many stops, making the system prohibitively slow, complex, and expensive. They're so unusable that people just choose to bypass public transit altogether and buy cars, resulting in unsustainably low volumes utilizing the public transit system. However, using a combination of buses and electric bikes / scooters / ride sharing could increase distances between routes and stops by 3-4x. In effect, the bus stops can be further apart because once you're off the train, you can utilize the bike / scooter to travel the last 1-3 miles at a speed 5x faster than walking. 3 miles walking would take about an hour. 3 miles on a 16 mph e-bike/scooter would take 10 minutes. Older / disabled people that couldn't utilize bikes / scooters could have utilize ride sharing at a subsidized rate at each main bus "hub". It reduces the number of buses running, reduces the complexity of the routes, and increases per bus density. Make those buses electric, and now you've not only removed gas tailpipe emissions, but drastically reducing overall bus miles driven and total energy use. 5) One idea someone put out there was the government giving every person an electric moped style scooter for free. A scooter takes significantly less resources than building an EV, uses significantly less energy to travel than an EV. Instead of 10 kWh for the average 32 mile r/t commute, a scooter may only use 1-2 kWh. An e-bike uses less than 1 kWh for the same distance. That's an 80-90% decrease in commute energy use versus an EV. .... EVs are great, and are the future, but they still use a lot of energy which will require more power plants, whether renewable or fossil. Renewables and EVs will eventually take over, but if we want a rapid reduction of emissions today, the ideas I've outlined above could be implemented this year. They don't require the 30+ years we'll need to replace all ICE vehicles, or to accomplish the massive renewable energy and energy storage build out.

[@williamzugner1269]

Thanks Matt always enjoy your videos. Never miss one.

[@UndecidedMF]

I appreciate that!

[@FredlocksAsher2012]

thanks Matt this was very informative and educational

[@keithnance4209]

Distributed/modular energy generation is freedom! That water rotor looks like a very promising product. Hopefully it gets the funding it needs for mass production.

[@davidcadman4468]

How about researching what China, Russia and India are doing in the way of renewable energy. They have large water shed areas and coast lines. Last I checked they were still a part of the planet.

[@jitinvp3358]

An amazing video. Well researched and explained. Thank you!

[@UndecidedMF]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@philipwoodgate9555]

one issue not spoken about is the harsh environment, water and the other environmental elements in it causes severe corrosion and fouling, hopefully they have found solutions to this

[@chesterwang3070]

9:45: It only was running for 15% of the time. The other 85% was maintenance, inspections, etc. So I'd say it actually was a huge success. I think tidal is going to be important in the future!

[@MrKnutriis]

85% maintenance and 15% run-time does sound more like a failure than a success.

[@chesterwang3070]

@@MrKnutriis It was a frigin experiment mate. Point is, it was only running 15% of the time, yet it still generated a great deal of power.

[@MrKnutriis]

@@chesterwang3070 I know. Solar and wind also only produce power at random intervals. Great if you only need power intermittently.

[@chesterwang3070]

​@@MrKnutriis Well I'm sure wind turbines don't run for only 15% of the time. Tidal energy isn't at "random intervals". The tides are consistent and predictable. We know when there will be high tide, low tide, spring tide, etc. However you're right, the wind and the sun are at random intervals, or at least we can only predict a few days ahead of time.

[@vladtepes481]

My distant ancestor John Adolphus Etzler in his 1830 book "A paradise with in the reach of all men" proposed the use of tidal, wind and solar energy to allow for an industrial society. Oil and natural gas is not mentions as they were not yet discovered. In Ontario, Canada electricity is often referred to as hydro.

[@djash7161]

We need all three wind water sun power combined

[@coreyverisario6570]

That's what batteries help with. Adding all of those sources into a single output to what we need to power it. Or backup power. Batteries are more helpful than people think. I agree with you!

[@4literv6]

Plus geo thermal! That could be a way to repurpose all the fracking crew's. Plus existing power plants could be converted to running off geo thermal steam more easily and probably more cost effectively then just shutting them down. Making the tax payers absorb the loses as they retire them. 🤔

[@Chazz155511]

A huge issue is maintenance and reliability. Salt water is highly corrosive and thus requires much more effort and expensive engineering to maintain. As well lots stuff grows on surfaces in the ocean. These would need to be cleaned often to maintain energy production. These ideas aren't new, they have simply proven to be less practical and dilute ways to obtain energy. It doesn't hurt to examine and see if our modern manufacturing technology is cable of making it practical but it doesn't really look like it.

[@katrinaanon1038]

The problem with tidal or submerged water turbines is that it removes energy out of the water. For example, if you were to use such a system in the Mississippi River near New Orleans, salt water starts flowing upriver contaminating New Orleans fresh water intakes. Same thing with tidal. You just cannot get past the problem of thermodynamics. Wind turbines when properly investigated that as they remove energy from these "wild rivers" of air we may discover these systems may be altering our weather systems in ways that may be very detrimental.

[@cheyennedogsoldiers]

There is one technology that i have for many years wondered why we don't see or hear much about, and that is geothermal. We are literally sitting on a vast reserve of energy, surely,, this has a much greater potential for long term scalable and sustainability than wind or solar.

[@moneyblackblood]

Making power out of gravity and water is both fascinating and encouraging.

[@okanagansage]

The under-construction, large hydro dam 'Site C' in the Canadian province of BC has been very controversial. A study done by the provincial government just before they started on the project showed that it would be cheaper to go with solar or wind. But they chose to go ahead with it anyway. Once it's done, it'll destroy a large area of farmland on unceded indigenous land. Now they are finding the land in the vicinity of the dam is not stable, causing delays and large cost over-runs.

[@LuftKorps]

The data on this video end up being missleading. Hydropower is WAY cheaper than solar or eolic on long term. No one accounts only 5 years when we talk about energy.

[@cOnfidentialcOrp]

Can you elaborate bro Saying this out of out of curiosity

[@fsveen]

A problem with wind power has recently come up: wear of the blades. As it turns out the fibreglass gets worn out by things like hail and different types of debris carried by the wind, mainly due to the high velocity of the blades. This adds to the maintenance costs of wind power facilities.

[@jamespaul2587]

Thanks for another informative and well researched video, Matt. You missed details on the Griswold impact on the Hoover Dam, though. Hydro is a really big thing for us Canadians, eh? ☺️

[@iron60bitch62]

These turbines kill hundreds A fish and marine mammals every year. Fish nets also Get tangled and eventually destroy the bearings

[@shad.baksh1]

At this point, Do your own research on the basis of feasibility and accessbility. One thing for sure, we want larger and reliable battery. Thanks for collaborating all the factors.

[@gladicus_]

A combination of pumped storage using tidal rivers seems like it would be a great option? Remove the need for pumps by using the tide to refil reservoirs. Turbine design seems very basic from the images here. I'm excited to see the progress of hydro in the future. Side note: Nikola Tesla's "One Way Valve" seems like it would be a perfect way of allowing tidal rivers to refil reservoirs with little to no impact on marine life. Would love someone smarter than me to comment on this :) Thanks for the video

[@jorgevargassoto6731]

Great channel! now I´m following the Podcast as well

[@lengould9262]

Consider designing pumped storage from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, around Niagara Falls. 42 cm level change in Lake Ontario could backup the entire east coast for 4 hours.

[@BigBadLoneWolf]

it still surprises me, that small hydro is not being used, there are millions of small streams and rivers, that could generate power and link up to the grid

[@engenheirojohnlazarevic3567]

Hi Matt, great video and coments about the hydroelectrics.

[@MichaelAussie05]

This was well explained, edited and produced. It was also a interesting and entertaining video thanks for your time and efforts Matt I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@hrushikeshavachat900]

1. Disilting the river beds of existing hydorpower sites. 2. Increasing the efficiency of existing hydroelectric power plants with upgraded turbines. 3. Increasing the height of existing dams is less harmful than constructing new sites.

[@m.j.debruin3041]

If there are enough hydropower facilities it can calm the oceans somewhat, which would be great for places like the UK where land is lost to the ocean.

[@ColinRichardson]

Did I miss the bit where they strapped Hydro turbines to Wind turbine bases? I seen it in the thumbnail, but I don't remember seeing it in the video

[@RdDeath12]

I know this is an older video. but I don't believe that we will see Tidal anytime soon and you touched on it in your video. It's the leveled cost of tidal. If offshore wind is already 50% more than traditional hydropower, there is large chance that tidal will be similar or more than offshore wind. Tidal offers additional challenges in terms of maintenance that offshore doesn't encounter. primarily, underwater structures may require heavy mechanical maintenance that offshore wind doesn't. While I'm all for improving technology and finding alternative fuels, I don't believe this will come to fruition unless a company decides to scale it. and even then, we may be looking at offshore wind as a more viable option.

[@SamiCoopers]

I like the wave energy air turbines, where the wave moves up and down in a closed chamber. The air in the chamber is pushed out and sucked back in through a turbine. I think it would be easier to maintain than underwater turbines. Also rather than placing them on our precious coastlines, you could have a sealed tunnel to the turbines further inland or create a vertical variant offshore

[@scottwhitley3392]

There was one of these where i live in Scotland on the Isle of Islay. I believe it was the first ever made. It got shut down in 2013 as tidal was a more reliable source than wave.

[@SamiCoopers]

@@scottwhitley3392 there is also the concern of scalability as there are limited coastal areas to build them.

[@brandytzu2747]

I am worried for the aquatic life, though.

[@flatmooner4691]

-Nothing to worry about. -it's GREEN. 😊 -Just like all the people that are disbelieving the fact that millions of endangered birds and bats are being killed by those huge 'Moulinex mixers' that they have put up all round the world. =🐦🐥🦅🕊🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅 . 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦇🦇🦇🦇🐦................................=💀 -It'll be quite all right though, Because now we can mince up sealife too! and no-one will know!, =🦈🦈🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐳🐳🐳🐳🐳🦦🦦🦦🐋🐋🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐠🐠🐠🐠🐡🐡🐡🐡🐡🐡🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦑🦑🦑🦑🦑🦑🦑🦑🐙🐙🐬🐬🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦆🦆...............................=💀 _How GREEN is that! 😊 ......Whaddya think 'sammy the seal'?, Wanna get chopped up or beaten to death on the shore?............... ..😥

[@kalleieb]

Minesto is worth a look. Kite under water now being deployed.

[@wearevanimals90]

You missed out on a pretty wild tidal energy device for your video - Minesto's tidal kite - I reckon it's right up your street. Great video. A good span of information for those hoping to learn more about renewable energy sources.

[@NeilBlanchard]

We are learning the terrible long term problems of damming up big rivers - the forests and other landscapes in the areas around the headwaters - are literally dying due to the lack of salmon. The salmon *used* to return all the way up to the start of the rivers and streams that feed the big rivers - and now that they don't (in any significant numbers), the nutrients from their bodies after they die - is leading to the land itself now dying. This is HUGE. We need to fix the problem we are causing. And no, salmon hatcheries is not a viable solution, sadly. There are no easy fixes.

[@LTVoyager]

You mention that many of these life cycle analyses and LCOE analyses allow apples to apples comparisons, but that is absolutely not true. It is nearly impossible to compare different energy production technologies as their capabilities and limitations are so different. For example, solar only looks good because it is heavily subsidized by the grid serving as a free battery. To see what I mean, let’s suppose that we required all energy generation plants to guarantee they could provide power 24 hours a day 7 days a week for at least 30 days completely independently. Nuclear, coal and storage hydro can do this as all can store this much “fuel” onsite. The cost for solar or wind to do this would be astronomical if you had to have enough electric storage batteries or pumped hydro to store 30 days of electric production. If you ran lifecycle analyses in this scenario, you would get drastically different rankings. Solar and wind only look good because you have the existing grid to back them up. Make them stand on their own, and the economics goes down the tubes. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should not use all available technologies where appropriate, but let’s do the analyses taking into account all attributes and detriments, not cherry pick. Most analyses use all of the detriments of nuclear and coal, but ignore some of their key attributes such as the ability to generate power reliably 7x24 and to maintain weeks or months of fuel onsite in case of disasters that interrupt fuel supplies. Solar is great in the southwest to handle peak daytime loads from AC where the load matches the solar production, but as a general independent source of power, solar sucks.

[@thamiordragonheart8682]

I feel like I remember hearing that the Levelized marginal cost of electricity from wind or solar up dramatically it accounts for 15% of a given energy grid because then the grid no longer has enough variable capacity to deal with it. I'm all over the gas-cooled fast reactors right now. much safer than light water reactors because there is no water to flash boil, no weird toxic salts or metal coolants, and can last 40 or 50 years on one load of unenriched fuel. They can even produce the instance temperature needed for industrial process heat, and achieve much higher turbine thermal efficiency because of it, making them even more efficient.

[@danielpalos]

Can it be possible to use these technologies to help with ocean current related weather change?