Tidal energy could be huge - why isn't it?

It's estimated that we could (practically) capture enough tidal energy to power all homes in the United States TWICE over - but we can only manage a tiny fraction of that right now. For a planet that is 70% water, why is this technology still so far behind other renewables? Are things about to change?
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world - and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
#PlanetA #TidalPower #TidalEnergy
Reporter: Aditi Rajagopal
Camera and video editor: Henning Goll
Supervising editor: Kiyo Dörrer, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Joanna Gottschalk
Special thanks for the background interviews:
Lisa MacKenzie and Matthew Finn, The European Marine Energy Centre
Andrea Copping, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Thomas Adcock, Oxford University
Read More:
IEF on Tidal Power:
www.ief.org/news/tidal-power-...
Tidal Energy Outlook:
www.irena.org/publications/20...
How tides work:
• What Physics Teachers ...
All about tidal range:
www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
All about tidal stream:
www.sciencedirect.com/topics/...
00:00 Intro
00:49 What are tides again?
01:58 How does tidal power work?
02:59 Tidal range power
06:15 Tidal stream turbines - the new kid on the block
07:36 A barrage of costs
09:31 What about the environment?
11:08 Conclusion

[@DWPlanetA]

Do you think that we should use more tidal energy?

[@Pedrofit]

I think we should go for the primary energies (gravitational force,nuclear force etc )

[@remygrandemange8460]

no

[@Holy_Frijole]

Yes. [10:40] Beth Scott (marine ecologist) argues it's damaging to marine life but WAY MUCH better still when compared to climate change. She would know better then me. I say yes it should be used part of the mix from her interview.

[@veggieboyultimate]

Most definitely

[@techcafe0]

sure, so long as absolutely NO damage is done to the marine environment and its inhabitants

[@Herio7]

I hate how we point out slightest ecological problem when it comes to any renewable energy source but conveniently forgot that what we have now is devastating whole planet. It's like discussing what type of extinguisher will corrode door handles the least while whole building is on fire.

[@mylordandsaviour4786]

The environmental impact might nit be as slight as you make it out to be and the reason why it is not done might be because simply better solutions might exist, but as a general sentiment you are right.

[@orangesolarflare4228]

They do mention this at the end of the video

[@ijiikieru]

You've been duped into believing that fossil fuels are bad for the planet.

[@tchaffman]

Based. Though it's a good mindset to keep refining our solutions, rather than thinking that we have the perfect answers on the first pass. Sustainability needs action, but it's still a marathon - not a sprint.

[@MrSanktjakob]

Its really not just a slight impact. If the ecology of out environments change too much it will huge impact on our lives. And putting dams or wind turbines or solar fars really does impact local wildlife. This is really the massive advantage of nuclear power.

[@mohdazminishak6387]

Thank you for being transparent about the real environmental, ecological and operational cost impact when talking renewable. Very rare indeed…others tend to overpromise and oversimplify the issue

[@DWPlanetA]

Hi Mohd Amin Ishak, Thanks so much! Don't forget to hit the subscribe button - our next video comes out next week Friday. Meanwhile, take a look at our other Planet A videos on renewable energy: "Geothermal energy is renewable and powerful. Why is most of it untapped?" - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWjHqmOeir9srqs "How green is solar energy really?" - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4i5ZZhqapisbrs Let us know what you think. 🙂

[@kamilpotato3764]

Best solution is mix of renewables and nuclear. Nuclear where grid density justifies it. Renewables where population density is smaller.

[@Pensnmusic]

@@kamilpotato3764 I want a Dyson sphere, personally.

[@chrisss3749]

@@kamilpotato3764 *German denuclearization intensifies*

[@kamilpotato3764]

@@chrisss3749 biggest mistake of German government...

[@scottnunnemaker5209]

It’s been a while since I’ve looked things up on tidal power, but I think there was concerns about marine life being affected by the spinning propellers, things like sharks and rays that are attracted to electrical fields, and possible pollution from leaking components.

[@ClockworkGearhead]

That's not even half the problem. If, like the description of the video states, we used enough of these machines to capture enough energy to power the entirety of the US twice over, then there is no doubt we'd disrupt ocean currents, which, in turn, would destroy vital atmospheric weather patterns. Imagine having to study why El Nino/La Nina disappeared, and finding out it's because of a bunch of giant fidget spinners under the water.

[@dennicam2428]

also in larger scales i could imagine it influencing bigger currents in the oceans

[@Fattony6666]

did you watch the video?

[@Fattony6666]

@@dennicam2428 you have a very strong imagination

[@tonyblairs1888]

The spin might be not fast i think the component like oil inside the turbine its dangerous

[@Clodhopping]

A guy I know (PhD from UMIST and various engineering patents) had a concept for using tidal turbines in the British Channel. He'd conceived a innovative design to compensate for the tide turning and for minimum maintenance to the moving parts and no need for complicated systems. Very simple/effective. I illustrated the visuals and he proposed it to the UK Govt (the then Dept of Energy) with semi-detailed plans and he wanted nothing for it as he'd made his money and was semi-retired) but the Govt couldn't take concepts to design themselves - they needed him to develop the business, create prototypes, etc. Plus the environmental lobby opposed any bankside development on the Severn. It was interesting to see the Dept of Energy release an article in the Times about a year later, with drawings very similar to mine but they'd misinterpreted some areas and created a more complex but less efficient design that would cost times as much. Always wondered if it was a missed opportunity as UK waters are nothing but tidal? 🤔

[@TheKamiBunny]

I think I know the design you are talking about. The issue with the UK government is they talk the talk but mostly don't walk the walk. They prefer ready solutions over developing them for at least the past 30 years. The evidence is the attention paid to developing technologies for the NHS, where they suggested a unified IT system, then waited for individual trusts to develop something and ended up buying programs from the US. However the systems didn't work well as the NHS had different needs and its taken years to adapt it to an ideal state. That said, it's still not ideal as it's not connected across the country but varies from trust to trust 🤷 They want the benefits without the risks 😆 and considering how risk adverse our recent politicians it makes total sense the rest of the government departments follow suit.

[@julianshepherd2038]

@@TheKamiBunny nhs trusts were set up to compete not cooperate

[@Windows98R]

0:13 I love how they simulated a fish getting hit

[@theoroder177]

I would love to see some comparable numbers in Diagramms or similar. Some number which here for example compare investment costs and efficiency values. That would help me a lot. Keep it up, love your videos

[@DWPlanetA]

Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated.

[@ericolens3]

Id love for the blades to be replaceable and the internal turbines to be 50 or more years of durability and bio foul resistant. Im thinking like a model airplane. The main body should be preserved but just replace the propellers and wings. Also due to it being in the water. It should be easier to replace a large blade compared to the long-term maintenance of a fleet of wind turbines. (Idk, because i saw so many in California. And I'm just wondering when they all meet their end of life around the same time frame how that's going to be addressed, at least sea maintenance should be a lot easier than land maintenance, due to cargo ship can float more materials to be on stand by. (If its far enough from the cities)) Or maybe there needs to be a way to domesticate a barnacle eater and other predators of biofouling species. Even the shipping industries would love that, if only they could eat the dang things fast enough to offset the down time.

[@Brandon_letsgo]

They’ll never do that because Tidal is far from being economically viable. I highly recommend David McKay on Tidal. His book(free online) cover the fallacy of tidal energy.

[@cdeer17]

@@Brandon_letsgo I mean the reality is all green energy as a fallacy by the mere fact that it is not financially possible because of companies that actually work against it if it wasn't so damn expensive I feel they could have made it far more economically friendly more eco-friendly and more scientifically possible to advance if it didn't cost an entire city

[@Vinzmannn]

I agree, I wasn't such a huge fan of everything made out of plaster, but no real data. Still a good video though.

[@richardminnich4249]

AS I recall, one of the problems that they had in the Bay of Fundy (in addition to issues with fish, seals, etc.) was that the tidal forces are so strong that the experimental units just disappear - they are torn out of the bottom of the bay and swept away.

[@scottwhitley3392]

I always presumed they spin slowly utilising massive gearboxes to harness the huge torque that flowing water allows the turbine to produce?

[@johnwade1095]

@@scottwhitley3392 No, it's a multipole permanent magnet generator.

[@growtocycle6992]

@@johnwade1095 you capture the energy at low rpm and high torque, then convert it to higher rpm using a gearbox, connected to a generator (in a secure location)?; This is mostly important because, to achieve decent angular velocity in turbine blades, your would have the tips of the turbines moving at WAY too high velocities!

[@johnwade1095]

@GrowToCycle no, really, have a look at openhydro's solution.

[@nathanielburbery4890]

@@johnwade1095 I suppose that this is why the more current solutions, such as the O2 Orbital turbine do exactly what I said. I guess I hadn't realised the context of the comment was with respect to OpenHydro's tech. ?

[@brodyatkin3681]

This was very well explained and thought out! Thank you!

[@NirvanaFan5000]

I can't believe that I'm nearly 40 and never realized that high-tide and low-tide is us moving around the tidal bulge zone - like how sunrise and sunset is us moving past the sun.

[@CodepageNet]

same here. 🤯

[@geog26]

I sugest you read more about tidal buldge

[@Moonwired]

You better figure it out how it actually works before you hit 50, nothing about that was accurate.

[@echothebm]

Fun fact. My dad was one off the supervisors for the original Tidal power project in Hammerfest (Norway). (Specifically in Kvalsund) They look like small underwater wind mills

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

For those who understand it, daily life will turn upside down: The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖

[@bovaiveu]

I used to fish off the little pier below that bridge. I was always deadly scared of potentially getting my line snagged in one of the turbines, little did I know this was virtually impossible.

[@bovaiveu]

Also really weird to see you commenting on a randomly recommended KZbin video. Haven't seen you in a decade

[@flip0345]

Yea well tell him to hurry up

[@gazz01]

can anyone please explain in terms of Albert einstein way rather than newton's one?

[@foxyturbine7114]

Very informative and well presented. Thank you :)

[@stoppinginmotion1354]

Watching this for a school assignment…I actually got sucked into it, really interesting!

[@mp6710]

Great content, amazing ilustrations and selection of experts to explain it, thanks very much!

[@BBountyHunter]

One thing not mentioned in this video in regards to marine life is the production of electricity and resulting change in magnetic field characteristics around the turbines. Lots of fish can detect magnetic and electric signals from quite a distance. Putting some extra sources of magnetic field in the ocean could potentially disrupt the ability of these animals to navigate.

[@louenrioichi8927]

I was thinking the same thing. Guess whatever humanity does good brings destruction with itself. We grow too large as species...

[@jacktaylor8195]

They can evolve.

[@simmerke1111]

@@jacktaylor8195 Yeah, what are they still doing in the ocean anyway? Much like moths using stars, bats using high frequencies, that kind of evolution won't happen in our lifetime. If at all.

[@jacktaylor8195]

@@simmerke1111 Sarcasm mate, chill your beans.

[@BBountyHunter]

@@jacktaylor8195 it wasn’t that obvious. ;)

[@normferguson2769]

In 1970’s at university we talked about harnessing the Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy tidal currents. Eventually permanent turbines were put in. The tides wrecked the machines and they were removed.

[@MudkipPog]

Thank you Mr corpo now are you going to offer to sell me a bunch of fossil fuel or what?

[@matthewdundee7771]

Enjoyed hearing about this solution. Thanks for producing this content

[@DWPlanetA]

Thanks! Don't forget to hit the subscribe button, we have a new video coming out every Friday!

[@wowmedialtd]

Hi, I started watching this as I spotted the animation of the Nova turbines that I produced (I'm used to having my work ripped and re-edited on YT). But I have to admit that this is an excellent video. Easy to follow and well written/produced. A really nice piece of work.

[@DWPlanetA]

Hey! Thanks for watching and the praise - and we hope we credited you right by crediting the company!

[@RealNameNeverUsed]

I just binge watched old videos from your channel. Learned somethinf from your recycling videos and Catalysis. Your animations are incredibly simple yet so fun to watch!

[@SineHacker]

This is a really well constructed video, I learned a lot from it thank you. I love in Wales and I knew about the Swansea barrage which has been a 'project' as long as I can remember which seemingly always gets cancelled, but the point on the map that you showed in this video didn't look like Swansea, it looked closer to Cardiff - is that a new project?

[@paytonpryor]

I've been waiting for this to catch on for years.

[@danemlive]

This a great channel. So happy I stumbled onto it.

[@DWPlanetA]

Welcome aboard!

[@eckosters]

I live on the shore of Minas Basin, an arm of the Bay of Fundy. We have the world’s highest tides (with a range between 8 and 18 meters) and tidal power has been discussed here for a very long time. The 1 Canadian plant that you mention is further down the Bay of Fundy, it’s in fact a dam in one of the rivers feeding into the Bay. It opened around the same time as La Rance but stopped operating 3 years ago. The renewed in-stream tidal power initiative started about 15 years ago. The Government built an interpretive Center at the site where a tailor-made cable from three turbine locations comes ashore. A donut-shaped turbine was installed twice and both times failed within days. And then couldn’t be removed because of the strength of the currents. We are nowhere near even a pilot project after all these years. In addition, the fishing community is dead against it, causing endless delays. There have been much better successes around Shetland and Orkney. I’d love to see more progress here but I don’t have much hope

[@pboyd4278]

Yup. break downs, cost and fish harm. I still remember visiting it a few years after it opened (fr. NB).

[@mrdaury5]

The currents of that bay are so volatile. I'm not sure why they ever thought they'd be able to harness it. Especially in that area around Parrsboro

[@pboyd4278]

​@@mrdaury5 - I don't have any idea whether Parrsboro was good choice or not but I really believe the Fundy Tides are a treasure trove of renewable power. Like the video said though - expense, developing tech and lack of a local market make the area a long shot right now. Trial aquatic turbines placed in the Bay literally had their rotors destroyed; such was the power of the water. There are some energy comparisons I've heard before about the comparison of the energy in each tide in the Bay being equivalent to some crazy number of nuclear bombs (funny how we always compare energy to them - rolls eyes). But still - future potential. (just hope ACOA doesn't fund any such ventures - if you're a Maritimer, you'll get it - lol)

[@mrdaury5]

@@pboyd4278 At mid tide, the flow of the current is that of all the world's rivers and streams combined. Crazy powerful. And I am a maritimer! Been a tour guide rafting on the Shubenacadie River for 6 years now.

[@pboyd4278]

@@mrdaury5 Nice :) I'm stuck in Toronto for now but have land overlooking the SJ River (Wolastoq) and will be home sooner than later I hope. Cheers!

[@TubersAndPotatoes]

Artificial lagoons will make great tourism areas too, just hope they can find a way to minimize environment damage.

[@DWPlanetA]

Yes, we touch on this 5:30 in the video. Did you enjoy watching?

[@petergoestohollywood382]

As long as MASSIVE amounts of concrete are involved, they can’t.

[@rehabwales]

@@petergoestohollywood382 as I understand it for the Swansea lagoon project in Wales a minimum concrete would used. About the same as a large housing development. Most of the walls are surrounded by quarried local stone.

[@PacoOtis]

Best of luck to you clever people and thanks for sharing!

[@arunlingam2531]

Aditi Rajagopal 👍❤️👌

[@jantschierschky3461]

One aspect comes to mind, modern cruise ships use large diesel electric pots for propulsion. So lot of R&D is done already and there is a manufacturing chain in place, how hard would it be to adopt those for tidal power ?

[@piyushshukla3812]

The big non renewables don't fund or block such steps...

[@DWPlanetA]

Good question! If you'd like to know more about the topic we've added some additional links for further reading. It's in the description, just click the "show more" button :)

[@porkchopspapi5757]

Odviously too hard.

[@jantschierschky3461]

@@porkchopspapi5757 i disagree

[@porkchopspapi5757]

@@jantschierschky3461 OK, why?

[@shastabare6026]

This is a great example of really accessible sci comm. Great common language and concept useage. Also just really interesting.

[@DWPlanetA]

Thank you! Please subscribe to our channel, we have a new video every Friday!

[@philguy5473]

Thanks you for an excellent informative and balanced presentation. We in the UK are blessed with large tidal ranges and flows that go right around our islands at different times leading to potential 24hr production of energy, we need to be spending a lot more of our energy research budget into tidal stream ideas. The benefits for us as a country long term compared to other sources of power are incredible.

[@SquatSimp]

Very informative thank you. I might just have to do my capstone project on this

[@jantschierschky3461]

If you see the tide in north west Australia is amazing, the 11m at sanctuary Cove and related flow is stunning. Unfortunately low population in that area however Derby and Broome could benefit.

[@stephencook8001]

Isn't Sanctuary Cove in Queensland

[@jantschierschky3461]

@@stephencook8001 North WA, derby. Maybe another one in qld

[@stephencook8001]

@@jantschierschky3461 you are right ,,never bin to west aus

[@mraj6811]

that kite makes much sense

[@simoncook8455]

The problem with tidal turbines on the sea bed is that the props get hit by rocks/flotsome and therefore need constant maintenance.

[@peace4peaceful]

Geothermal and Tide energy are available everywhere. Copper anti fouling on boats can last 10 to 15 years I'm told. Compared to 18 months of normal antifoul paints. They could combine wind and tide power on one of those floating platforms

[@UninstallingWindows]

I guess the biggest problem with tidal energy is that ocean is a harsh environment. Fixing things or keeping them clean and in working order is tough.

[@NewPipe4Android]

And Yet, ships use huge moving metal parts under water constantly and still run profitable . 🤷 A ship screw shouldnt be that different from a water Turbine. The animation showing the virtual fish get slapped by the turbine worries me a lil ..😆 Tho i think solutions for less dangerous ways of using that huge volume of water moving can be designed. 🤔

[@UninstallingWindows]

​@@NewPipe4Android Ships have the advantage of moving quite fast, which helps to keep the hull and propellers clean, but, inspite of that, all ships must visit dry docs and undergo hull cleaning to get rid of barnacles and other nasty stuff that builds up on the hull. And they run profitable due to scale. If you could build a turbine the size of a cargo ship then perhaps it would out perform wind turbines. The ocean still is a harsh environment, and if engineers can generate energy buy staying out of it...then they will. Just compare the difficulty of maintaining a solar panel VS under sea turbine. Anyone can clean a solar panel. To clean a turbine, you need a professional highly paid divers...who are in short supply already. To fix the turbines, you need even more rare breed of workers...undersea divers who are also engineers. Alternatively, you would have to detatch the turbine from the sea floor, carry it to a drydock, do the maintenance and re-install it. Im not saying that its impossible....just that its much more expensive.

[@NewPipe4Android]

@@UninstallingWindows Sure but think oil platforms for example are also a proofof concept. In the end its a cost/benefit assesment, yeah. Still nice to see that we have other scalable options in case wind or solar is unavailable. I could imagine places with less land/wind, where a underwater turbine that is accesible by boats is still more suited than other current power generation tech.

[@johans7775]

@@UninstallingWindows Truth is you don't know any of this, you are just guessing. Let the engineers involved handle this and stop spreading information white noise

[@UninstallingWindows]

@@johans7775 Truth is, i do know about this. Anyone with rudimentary thinking capabilities knows this.

[@Huligan722]

there are a lot of factual information that is just blurted out by Rajagopal, it would be great if we could get the sources to these factual statements, I acknowledge that this isn't a academic paper or a report. But showing audience the specific statement of facts/ quoting the specific source, would add to the credibility of the video.

[@johnjephcote7636]

For an island that has such a coastline as England, Wales and Scotland, I can only imagine that successive Governments' indifference and anti-lobbying from coal and then gas interests have had their play. I remember the subject being discussed back in the 1960s.

[@guillermojarne2803]

Thanks for the video!

[@jzak613]

Good review. Tidal dams are probably a really bad idea. They have to deal with silting up, marine animal displacement, they look bad, the carbon footprint of concrete etc. But the turbines appear to be much less invasive. Albeit the issues that were raised in the video with material selection, and marine life. Also, the fact that salt water and electrical/mechanical components don't mix.

[@MrPureBasic]

Did you actually have any data about what you're talking about? Did you made any calculations? The concrete carbon footprint for example. After how much time would a tidal dam beat a gas plant of same power output even tho we spend so much carbon on the concrete? Also, wind turbines need a shitload of composite materials that cannot be recycled. What would be the cost of maintenance of a tidal turbine versus at wind turbine in term of CO2? Genuine questions as you sound like an expert............

[@rodolfoinnocentirisaliti390]

@@MrPureBasic They weren't dismissing the idea completely, just expressing some doubts about it. Nothing is certain and every calculation is an estimate until put into practice. There's no need for insults also

[@ZesPak]

I like how low-level yet informative this is, often you see one or the other. Very basic yet packed with important information. Thanks!

[@David-ys4ud]

Except they left out all the important details which would make this impossiblem

[@pentyalaprashanth6171]

The way written ,the way spoken , created video and music wow super making overall easy to understand good job guys 😎

[@DWPlanetA]

Thank you! So glad the topic resonates with you 🤗 Be sure to subscribe to our channel. We have new videos every Friday ✨

[@ronnybank6817]

u dont find it quite absurd that the narrator has an indian accent?

[@billgreen576]

The problem with tidal power with systems fixed to the sea floor is they recently discovered that the tide moves boulders the size of houses around the sea floor. These boulders would smash such systems. And secondly stuff grows on turbines in the sea that need cleaning. Tidal undoubtedly works but is expensive.

[@aaronm951]

I'm surprised that transportation and storage of energy was completely skipped. Tidal energy is great for the coasts, but all land locked cities are going to need some other energy alternative. I was hoping they would talk about energy loss over vast distances, how many batteries would be needed to store this energy, what chemicals are used in the manufacture of batteries, and the waste/lifespan of said batteries. It is disturbing to me that when alternative energy is talked about these are very important and are never mentioned!

[@Jack_Slate]

Because this video wasn't about the batteries? And they do mention that the zones where this can be used are usually less populated as an issue. Also, the predictability factor can reduce the amount of batteries needed. In cases of other sources you have to gather as much power as you can while there is supply (sun, wind) and you would use high capacity batteries for that. Here you should be able to greatly downsize those. That said, haven't they started using mechanical means to store power (eg. flywheels)?

[@mauroghen9157]

Dams are essentially batteries, and nuclear is a way more solid option overall. Its true that these “innovations” always solve all their “problems” with “just more batteries”

[@pizzasaurolophus]

We had tidal turbines here in Nova Scotia where we have the biggest/strongest tides in the world. But the companies trying to install them eventually went bankrupt, they also harmed a whole bunch of marine life.

[@earlysda]

"Renewables" often do more harm to the environment than fossil fuels do.

[@pizzasaurolophus]

​@@earlysda I don't really agree with that. They're not perfect, they still do harm but they are better than fossil fuels. The coal plants along the ocean here suck up marine life too.

[@earlysda]

@@pizzasaurolophus smoothies, you say coal plants suck up marine life. Do you have any evidence for that claim?

[@sai_69]

Informative and I like the fact there there weren't many tangents.

[@maxhill9254]

Very informative and well made, thx

[@DWPlanetA]

Thank you! Please subscribe to our channel, we have a new video coming out every Friday!

[@ChristianCaurla]

Super well explained 💯

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

For those who understand it, daily life will turn upside down: The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖

[@RangaNayanajithSilva]

Being later or you have realized the value . Still l remember the first innovative modle created with tidal power establishment 3 decades ago in my motherland by a 12-14 years old school child in a zonal level innovative exhibition. Honestly very few amount of people even pay attention over his great unique mechanism involved .

[@David-ys4ud]

That's not true at all. It doesn't work. Salt water is highly corrosive and the wildlife will jam up those turbines. This is feel good science without a realistic budget

[@meRyanP]

Didn't know about Tidal at all, great video thanks!

[@DWPlanetA]

Thank you! Don't forget to hit the subscribe button, we have a new video coming out every Friday!

[@samuelchappell7280]

One other thing no one has taken into account about using tidal power to create electricity is electromagnetic fields created from the high voltage wires connecting these turbines to their inland connections. How will EM fields affect fish and such?

[@wiedapp]

Way back, like 20 years or so, some people had the idea to combine our German off shore wind farms with hydro power. Was swiftly swept under the rug, never heard of it again, except if people either laughed about it or had fear for the fish, which would inevitably chopped to pieces, by their perception. Water power is heftily slowed down here in Germany because of the fisher men guilds and such fear for the fish, which they can't fish anymore. Okay, that's mainly for rivers and such, but for the off shore parks there were mainly environmentalists, that fought beside big oil to prevent any further development. One to protect the marine life, the other to protect their profits... We have too many people with a 'what if? mindset here as well, who fear change.

[@truthsRsung]

The Dairy farmer I know didn't think "what if" before agreeing to install a wind farm on the family property. The first year, half of the herd either stopped producing milk or gave milk that was unfit for consumption. Now, forget the little fish, consider what happens when a shark, dolphin, or whale collides with a turbine blade. Dead generator and dead swimmer. It's not if, it's when.

[@FormerGovernmentHuman]

I find these types of projects fascinating however if it was my choice I would be more interested in using these machines to power colonies on other planets. For anything else I fully support nuclear. We can continue the efforts to keep the process safe (relatively) and continue research on the uses of daughter isotopes and other programs, I feel it has limitless potential. We already have ways of utilizing plutonium and other elements and isotopes produced by uranium 235 plants.

[@earlysda]

wiedapp, some people don't enjoy seeing birds, bats, or fish get chopped to pieces.

[@HemstitchedIrony]

I wrote a paper on tidal/wave energy my sophmore year of undergrad, I'm glad you made this! The Ocean is such an underrated renewable energy source and wave energy should be so widely funded and implemented in places like California, Portugal, Alaska, and even Australia, Russia, and much of South America.

[@richardlee2488]

Wave energy is.... A non starter. Tidal is epic. If we asked people tidal or nuclear, what is the choice? Costs billions, produces millions and costs trillions to clean up after. Tidal is perfect unless you ask conservation critics that are often from outside the area.

[@Justwantahover]

I have thought about this stuff and I reckon maitenance will be the biggest cost (and a nightmare). Maybe a design where only the blades enter the water, making it easier to maintain. And the electronics and mechanics are above the water.

[@jennyone8829]

Awesome Presentation. Thank you for teaching me today 🎈🪬

[@erinrising2799]

I wrote a paper in middle school about this very thing. I would like it to be more widely utilized, just so my 13 year old self will feel vindicated

[@wadball]

As a Master's student specializing in clean energy, this was really great!! Well researched, contextualized, & evaluated. Thank you!

[@pushies5]

As someone who owns a 02' R34 GTR, no need to announce your status if it's irrelevant to your comment.

[@itscaptainterry]

@@pushies5 bro, an '02 GTR is relevant in every scenario

[@DWPlanetA]

Thank you! Please subscribe to our channel, we have a new video coming out every Friday!

[@e6ensperception]

Dear Aditi Rajagopal: Thank you. Im looking to get into school for renewable energy. Thank you for this very informational & very well made video, this information is greatly appreciated. You helped me understand a new topic deeply and quickly. You and tour team are some of the best out there, please keep being you! You may not realize the impact now, but you all are changing the world for real!

[@DWPlanetA]

You're most welcome. We are very glad to hear and hope you get into the school. Please subscribe to our channel for new videos on environment every Friday! 🍀

[@e6ensperception]

@@DWPlanetA thanks for the good wishes, I just subbed!

[@WTFBI5]

Thanks guys!

[@popov1993]

Amazing video! Your explanations and montage are on point and you address every part which needs it. All the questions I had when clicking on the video and then while watching were answered. Thank you, subscribed!

[@truthsRsung]

A hydraulic arm connected to a float is a much less invasive approach to collecting energy from changing tide levels. All the machinery involved is above water where humans may maintain it and no moving parts underwater to harm wildlife. Edited for spelling

[@MySNova]

who is narrator? her voice is soothing, commanding, crisp and clear!! Great job narrating this. :)

[@davidhill78]

This needs to occur!!!!! Beautiful idea!!!!!

[@The-Dom]

Anybody who's spent much time on the ocean knows that the upkeep would be enormous.

[@JamesBond-uz2dm]

The marine environment can be unforgiving.

[@jamesaleando2529]

It's actually insulting our intelligence to propose these designs let alone finance these projects.

[@limemobber]

Air is far more forgiving than salt water and we have constant problems with the environment destroying wind turbines.

[@fuzexi]

That would provide jobs then

[@marianoalippi2038]

The Patagonian tides are ideal for this type of implementation, I would love for the DW to analyze the potential of the Patagonian tides for the implementation of this technology.

[@gabrielmaffei7623]

lastima que en la patagonia no vive nadie y mover la energia a el norte es costoso e ineficiente. pero si podria ser una buena semilla para fomentar la descentralizacion del pais y que mas gente viva en l patagonia, que ademas es muy bella

[@Arrica101]

Basically pointless as the highest population densities that need the power live to far away

[@anglosaxonmike8325]

The one problem is that the tide stops at low and high tide for about an hour. During this period you still need backup.

[@fabbe5002]

The underwater kite is now really promising. Already producing energy in the Faroe Islands. You can buy the stock in the swedish market.

[@dougnash6316]

One of the examples of untapped tidal power was our trip 15 years ago to Costa Rica. We were on the pacific coast near the Ossa peninsula. The tides rolled into the beach 24/7 with a height of about 6' making it almost impossible to swim without a load of coarse sand being injected into your swim trunks. The power was amazing and I thought that this was a resource worth tapping into. There must be many more places where this kind of power could be harnessed.

[@porkchopspapi5757]

As a grown man, you must realize that this isin't a new idea.

[@Rokmonkey32]

6' isn't enough. I work in tidal energy, every place we work is at least 20'.

[@pjacobsen1000]

It sounds like you're thinking of waves, not tides.

[@VeeSeven700]

Some of the largest tides in the world near my house. And absolutely no use being made of it at all. And we currently have problems with high energy bills. You'd think someone would be able to put 2 and 2 together!

[@arney444]

Doug, I have a single question for you: what is your education level and specialization? If - God save you from it, of course - you ever need a surgery, you would not suggest to the surgeon how to perform it, would you? Because you are not a medical doctor. So how can you suggest how feasible (let alone practical) such an installation could be ?

[@scottsluggosrule4670]

Tidal zones are important zones for fish migration and lots of marine mammals… are they safe? How would this impact fishing? I suspect the two are not compatible. Offshore wind farms encourage fish biomass and can be fished.. I don’t see how a dpiing blade under water could allow fishing.

[@DinoAlberini]

You fish some place else.

[@David-ys4ud]

@@DinoAlberini just tell that to the fish that use that area for breeding. Im sure they will understand

[@DinoAlberini]

@@David-ys4ud fish rarely breed where there are strong currents

[@ardarricvannes5347]

We were talking about tidal and wave power back when I was in school, over thirty years ago

[@HerbMandoom]

Pretty good vid. Green energy isn't actually green, as we know. I wish I could remember who spoke of it, but a lot of folks think we have a power production problem when we really just have a power usage problem. The answer isn't producing more types of green energy, it's using less energy and living closer to the environment.

[@HerbMandoom]

Don't get me wrong, I know this is a complete fantasy because there is no monetary gain involved, but it's nice to think about.

[@brucecollis8609]

Are there any designs that involve using the power of a huge float(like a barge size) that moves up and down with the tide geared to turn a turbine? That would solve a lot of problems because the machinery can stay out of the water. The floats would be low maintenance and the only thing in the water.

[@user-ns7mz1ld9u]

I drew a design that used giant floats to turn geared down turbines in theory it could work with waves also. It would be similar to the system shown except the mechanism would function off the up and down movement of massive platform with turbines on the legs. The advantage would be that the turbines would not have to be submerged, thus reducing wear and damage due to salt water and sand in the water

[@rignatetris4435]

Not to mention it should be easier to maintain and get new parts to. Still like some of the other comments. There is still the issue of energy loss over distance. Where landlocked countries and states(in the case of the USA). Meaning they need to figure something out for storage. Or a different source of power

[@seumassquared1735]

@@rignatetris4435 There's been some developments there luckily, governments in Canada and Germany have begun the planning stages of renewable energy projects for production of hydrogen, stored as ammonia. The ammonia/hydrogen would be a liquid battery of sorts and will likely be used to support hydrogen fuel cell car economy with Europe switching away from ICE cars.

[@i1woo]

it's my first time knowing about the term biofouling, you really learn something everyday

[@ErectkyleDysfunction]

The illustrations of the tidal range energy/ generators were so cool. Oh my goodness I'm such a nerd lol

[@brianthesnail3815]

The sea is incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, that destructive power means that even a tidal barrier would have to be largely rebuilt every 30 years to maintain it in working order. A metal tidal stream turbine in the open ocean would last even less time. This is the Achilles heel of all renewable projects. The upfront capital costs and constant maintenance are very large even if the actual energy input from wind, sea or sun is free.

[@sandrafrancisco]

arguably, every single thing humans have built and rely on require huge capital costs and constant maintenance.

[@collinvanleeuwen8574]

This sounds great and i've frequently thought about it, the points brought up in this video are all fair and justified though i'm just missing 1 potential problem, and that's noise. It's a well known fact that marine life is disturbed by the sounds caused by freight liners and what not, so i'm curious on the sound output of these turbines and the effects of it on local wildlife given that it's placed relatively closely to the shores.

[@rosaschlupfer635]

I'm pretty sure that is what was meant by displacement at 10:22 They didn't go into detail just concluded that the worst estimates are still better than the effect climate change will have.

[@patl8363]

They do give off a sound or vibration that fish fo avoid. My family has a fishing business ,and the turbine that was left on the bottom in the bay of fundy in eastern Canada, has caused a lot of fish to change their migration path. The volume of fish in that area has decreased significantly. The worst part is the amount money that was sunk into the project and the company went bankrupt. It sits rotating on the ocean floor producing nothing and rotting away.

[@secretzombie3976]

@@rosaschlupfer635 estimates concluded by people, people make mistakes, people have motives and biases, and instead of focusing on more permanent solutions like changing the wasteful aspects of culture, we would rather find new temporary ways to leave the lights on when nobody's home.

[@povang]

You'd think a straight fan blade would be very inefficient, maybe an auger type fan blade would work better.

[@thumperpaul155]

I have always wondered about this also

[@sourankaguha4639]

Mumbai's Worly-sea-link bridge can have the largest tidal power plant in India. Will have to weigh in environmental cost vs production capacity trade-off.

[@chechnya]

Non-whites don't care about the environment.

[@DWPlanetA]

@@chechnya please note that racial stereotyping is prohibited on this page.

[@agnalthomas400]

@@chechnya fact

[@braunarsch]

@@chechnya lol what? have you seen america?

[@benjaminlamey3591]

Also willingness to invest that much with a bit of a slower return of invest. Unfortunately at the moment they focus on the return of Invest for next year, which is going to be not that huge compared to gas power ...

[@spiritualdilemma1364]

0:25 is that globally we could provide energy to the United States twice over. Or the United States has access to enough coastal regions to power itself twice over? There’s a huge difference. I’d change my career based on the answer.

[@aditirajagopal]

Hey, great question. The answer is globally :) Some calculations say that if we harness the power of ALL tides around the world, we could generate more power than global capacity at the moment, but this number I quoted is the practical/economically viable estimate.

[@jantschierschky3461]

Think US tides are relatively minor, however if you consider Canada's east coast than you have huge potential with 14m tides in some areas and big bays.

[@jpt3640]

Be careful. Figures like that usually have been stretched extremely to prove the authors opinion. It's even unclear if it's calculated based on primary energy or electrical energy. So the numbers as they are aren't worth the paper they are written on ;)

[@falconflylow]

I think its estimated on volumen and mass of the water involved in tides. But to lock all that into usable electricity is impossible (or not yet and hope it never be because biolife diversity etc.) But I hope some good part of it will be used on sustainable way... (sorry my English is not the best)

[@kamilpotato3764]

Best solution is mix of renewables and nuclear. Nuclear where grid density justifies it. Renewables where population density is smaller.

[@leoc544]

Great video. Would love to see a comparison between these sources of energy and the newer, cleaner thorium nuclear reactors, which also are promising

[@downbntout]

Great ideas here! I'd suggest that vertical axis would be much smarter

[@henryhawthorn8849]

I’ve always thought that one way of harnessing bodies of water into electricity (be it the sea, lakes, or rivers) is to make holes at the bottom of the body of water, the deeper the better because it increases water pressure. Then a tube would connect the hole at the bottom of the sea at 100 meters for example (or ten atmospheres of pressure) to another hole at the surface. There would be a great negative pressure whereby the water would flow upwards towards the surface. Then that water pressure would turn turbines at high speeds, producing electricity just like a regular dam would, except that that particular water dam wouldn’t be located at an artificial reservoir but could be at the sea or lake for that matter.

[@cherryjuice9946]

That sounds like you're describing a perpetual motion machine.

[@jeanr2808]

pressure only depends on the height of the water column, if you put a tube in the sea, the water will not start flowing out so if you have two fish tanks of the same height but different width and length, the pressure at the bottom is the same however, your solution can work but not in the way you expect it it is possible to exploit the temperature difference between surface water and seafloor water to produce energy, through stirling generator or else so you just pipe water from the seabed to a power plant at the surface

[@crisvermondcreman2894]

Your idea is mine too. I thought im the only one thought about it. But you my friend you can not do that becoz the tube where the water exit will level up with the sea level thus no more moving force to move the turbine. Unless we used pump to maintain the negative water level whre the water exit from above .

[@Reciprocity_Soils]

New subscriber here. Marvelous exploration of the potential solutions to fulfill energy needs and the discussion around the advantages and disadvantages. Additionally, so happy to see excerpts from interviews with a range of scientists. These solutions could be applied to rivers...and I'm not talking about dams. Peace and health, everyone. Happy to be a member of the DW Planet A family.

[@TOPDadAlpha]

I live next to the gulf stream in southern Florida..... It never stops moving. Just think what we could harness from that!!!

[@profcephas24.]

Am in Kenya and i have a different way of capturing wave energy then converting it into power. More effective than i have ever seen on the videos i have seen. Have been working on it since 2022

[@mOOOp42]

I had my senior year undergraduate thesis on renewable energy and the most intriguing solutions I found were these ocean turbines and the molten salt turbine found in China and Las Vegas. The biggest problem is the cost to output ratio is pretty severe so these types of electrical solutions are just too expensive at the moment but are really cool solutions when they are cost efficient.

[@Kuwandi]

Intersting , my Q have these costs been compared to the costs of oil rigs that drill in the ocean bottoms , just seems that those oil rigs costs would be enormous ?? …curious

[@FLY2KO]

I bet you forgot NUCLEAR its 100% clean and it will be the future of power period...

[@beaconofwierd1883]

Kind of insane to think that these turbines draw energy from the speed of the moon, literally causing the moon to orbit slower. They are like tiny invisible strings pulling on the moon :O Granted, their effect on the moon is negligible and barely measurable, but still, that’s where they get their energy from :D Edit, it’s actually the other way around, the Earths rotation is speeding up the moons, so the turbines are like invisible strings pulling on the moon to make it go faster while slowing down the rotation of the Earth.

[@Fliegenbefriediger]

Luckily all the solar panels reflect sunlight back into space, thus equalizing the energy levels!

[@E1Luch]

I think it's the opposite. Moon is getting further away from Earth, which means its orbital energy is getting bigger, but its speed decreases and orbital period increases. But the Earth's rotation is slowing down, providing that orbital energy.

[@beaconofwierd1883]

@@E1Luch Oh yeah, you’re right :)

[@Pensnmusic]

Do you think we'll ever send satellites into space with the intention of having them gravity slingshot back to us with some of the gravitational potential energy of other planets? I don't know how we'd harvest the energy of the extremely high speed object as it plows into the Earth... ... Yet

[@beaconofwierd1883]

@@Pensnmusic Harvesting the energy is easy, just have magnets on the satelite and have it pass near a conductor, so the satelite is basically acting like the rotor of a giant electric motor. As to if we would ever do it, probably not, atleast not for harvesting energy. Will it be a part of our orbital infrastructure to move mass around in the solar system, definitley. The ”Energy harvesting part” would just be a side effect of slowing down/”catching” your shipment from mars, so you might aswell use that energy instead of just dissapating it as heat. But using it to power Earth, no, there’s no reason to do so when we could just build solar panels in space instead.

[@kenanaosithole1586]

Great content!

[@phreak074]

Think like a home fish tank. Put some eco friendly material housing structures at the bottom nearby the tidal turbine generator.

[@zakkamarachi8081]

Thank you so much DW is the best ever❤

[@zuutlmna]

Reminds me of an out-of-print/discontinued book I bought back in the '80's. Was about the history of recycling and minimum environmental impact engineering. A particular European country during the 1930's had plans to install similar submerged generators at optimal locations in the Mediterranean. The projected output from the proposed project was immense.

[@zuutlmna]

So there's bird harm problems with some wind turbine designs. Any possible similar issues with marine life? Seems like there could be.

[@tazika2988]

@@zuutlmna Less issues then nuclear power plants have with whole life.

[@kevinfogle7929]

I remember reading about this in Time magazine 1999 issue talking about technologies that would revolutionize the new century.

[@johnwright9372]

Mediaeval Britain had tidal grain mills consisting of a simple dam built across part of a tidal inlet with a wheel driven by the flow of water.

[@doh4828]

Funny fact: As a kid growing up sea side in the Netherlands, I used to fantasize about such a concept, as the perpetual ebb and flow would generate near constant energy apart from the moment when the tide is dead/slack. A power plant could be built on an artificial island and constructed in such a way that it could also provide an ecological benefit to marine and bird life both migratory and stationary (reefs, tidal marshes, dunes, sand flats), as well as it roof surface covered in solar cells for the added benefit of solar power (and who knows even redesigned wind turbines that are less obtrusive to the landscape). In the Netherlands the Maasvlakte industrial area near Rotterdam Seaport is a good example of how land was claimed from the sea, and the Marker Wadden project in the IJsselmeer as a beautiful example of artificial islands that created an ecological environmental explosion of wildlife and plant life in an area that was virtually ‘dead’.

[@RDJ2]

If you lower the speed of flow of water (by putting in a turbine) more sand will sink to the seafloor. It could be a nice way of reclaiming land from the sea I guess, if that is a goal. The Waddenzee would clog up in no time if you put turbines in it. A few years of "free energy" and you could walk to Ameland at high tide if you ask me.

[@LRM12o8]

@@RDJ2 sure, and if we build too many wind turbines, they'll stop the Northwind, lol! I think you greatly underestimate the vast amounts of energy that's in the tides and how tiny of a fraction we would need to remove from them in order to satisfy our energy needs.

[@RDJ2]

​@@LRM12o8 wind turbines do notably lower wind speeds. If you do that in water, sand will sink down. You probably have no idea what the Waddenzee is, it's already clogging up. Lowering water speed will mean more sand sinks down. I think you overestimate how much you can take away before balance is disturbed.

[@LRM12o8]

@@RDJ2 you mean das Wattenmeer north of Germany, between Denmark and the Netherlands? Of course I know what it is, I've been there! ^^ Since you've made this claim, do you kbow any studies that show the wind slowing down because of wind turbines (not because of global warming)? Those wind turbines are tiny compared to the sky, like a spec of dust to the human eye. I don't believe neither they, nor the tidal turbines can be anything more than a drop of water in the ocean.

[@RDJ2]

@@LRM12o8 locally they can make quite a difference, you won't change the gulfstream but something like the Waddenzee would clog faster than it's already doing. Locally wind drops after a windpark, it takes tens of kms to pick back up. On a global scale it's irrelevant but my example was local.

[@er0meyo827]

Tidal brrages can act like a battery and and can turn it on and off when ever we want more energy but for the for the turbine that are under water we need to use the energy right away or store it in battery to use it whenever the demand is high

[@vylbird8014]

You can, but they have some severe local environmental impact.

[@jantschierschky3461]

The french one actually increases head by pumping additional when tide is coming in.

[@FortuneCookieLies]

Tidal power seems like a great long term innovative disruptor if the costs and innovations could exist to bring the price to build down.

[@David-ys4ud]

People forget that salt water is very very corrosive plus these turbines will need a LOT of daily maintenance

[@iareid8255]

Tide is a weak source of power albeit fairly predictable. However maintenace is a large cost on any marine equipment. It also has two times that power will drop to nothing. The other really problematical issues with tidal (or wave) is that they are asynchronous meaning they cannot modulate as demand fluctuates, this eliminates their large scale use. They are also low in inertia another characteristic that keeps the grid stable. On the face of it a source ofenergy but it is not anywhere as good as it looks.

[@iareid8255]

Gary, it is lethargic. That is why some tidal generators use barriers to increase velocity and trade it for constant flow. Predictable but that does not mean that it n

[@iareid8255]

Gary, to continue, it does not help if it doesn't coincide with demand. You cannot have agrid that supply and demand do not match at all times. Therefore renewables can never replace conventional generation, it simply cannot work. Batteries are no answer. It is living in a dream world to believe that low intensity and uncontrollable generation can supply our requirements.

[@iareid8255]

Gary, I live in the U.K. Take off your rose tinted glasses and look at things from a realistic technical viewpoint. Renewables, which include biomass (This significantly flatters the total renewable contribution as it is fairly consistent 365 days a year. It is also synchronous (although it doesn't run as such, it can) and has inertia. Take fossil fuels away and replace them with wind and solar and the grid will trip. No ifs or buts, and it will take days if not weeks to restore and it still will be unstable. Renewables cannot start a dead grid. Balancing costs are rising in tandem with the increase of renewables as are electricity unit costs. This is the behind the scenes and never reported in the media as such. They report Drax had to restart one of it's coal plants but not why. Not only is it not possible it is fiscally iresponsible to build such a large capacity of an uncontrollable and expensive source of generation with a relatively short life so they will need replacing more often.

[@iareid8255]

Gary, yes I have and for very good reasons. Balance demand to generation, you have to not looked at that realistically. Particularly as wind is so volatile in output with respect to wind speed. Drax was paid £4000 per Megawatt for this 'last watt'. The simple fact is that we are streched as far as availabiliy of reliable capacity . You don't say in what discipline your engineering is , mine is power generation.

[@hurrdurrmurrgurr]

@@iareid8255 What is your preferred power system?

[@gabecarrick]

Unless you have a background in some sort of grid management or operations it can be quite unclear how small the production from the non-range tidal power can be. A whole ship, manned with a few people to produce 2 MW? That's less than one industrial generator and requires so much maintenance and operational costs.

[@unitforce7417]

Bc its still in development

[@zolikoff]

The biggest offshore wind turbines, that are much larger than ships, barely go over 10 MW. Of course the production from a single unit is small, because this is an inherently poor quality dilute energy source. It's not going to power the world, ever. It's just toy projects to entertain people with.

[@VinylUnboxings]

@@zolikoff What makes you so confident it can't be scaled?

[@David-ys4ud]

This is feel good science. Any actual engineer will say you will spend more energy to make energy than you will produce

[@zolikoff]

@@VinylUnboxings It inherently has the same properties at the small scale as at the large scale because individual generators are small. It's not like thermal power plants where a 1 GW plant is much more economical per unit energy than a 1 MW plant. So the system and economic properties will be the same at any scale as now. And they are not good for large scale grid power production. So they won't be at any larger scale either.

[@Gav-Norm]

Lol 0:13 the fish just casually avoids certain death