Free Flow Hydro Power

Before I get into this new type of hydro technology I would like to make a comment about a previous post that I just found more information on. The "sea snake" technology that can be used to harness the energy from waves I found has an interesting alternative use. It can double as a floating platform or island which can be utilized as an off shore retreat, restaurant, or sun-set watching platform. This is potentially another benefit of the sea snake system that seemed rather interesting.

Now onto my new green technology, hydro power. Hydro power is capturing the energy from rivers, lakes, currents, etc. and converting it to useable energy. The benefit is water is renewable and is plentiful in many parts of the world. However, areas prone to drought or that have little water would not be able to use this technology effectively(these places are often perfect for solar technology though). Currently there are two main ways to capture energy from water, dam hydro and free flow hydro. Dam hydro as you may suspect is building a dam on a river or lake. The dam lets a certain amount of water through which powers turbines and thus creates energy. Free flow hydro does not block rivers or lakes but simply sits within these bodies of water capturing the energy through different methods.

In this post I want to specifically talk about free flow hydro and its benefits over dam hydro. "A 10m/s (very strong flow) water rushing has about 314KW/m^2. It is enough for 150 US families to live comfortable including cook and air." This power is harnessed much like wind turbines harness the power of the wind. A simplistic explanation of how this is done is a small box with a fan blade in it sits in the water. The water flow spins the blade and creates energy that is then transferred to a mechanism on shore that can convert the energy to a useable form. A few of the benefits of this technology over dam technology is that it does not impede the movement of fish or wildlife, it is cheaper than dams, it can work in almost any water speed or depth, it can be scaled to the environment, it can be used in the ocean to harness the power of currents, and it is more efficient than dam hydro. This technology is very flexible in where it can be used and could be utilized for small towns or major cities. It could be placed off coasts, in large rivers such as the Mississippi, or even in small creeks or rivers. It is easy to see why this renewable energy source has such great potential and could easily reduce America's carbon footprint. There are no carbon emissions and the impact on the environment is less than the impact dams and other energy resources are currently having on the environment.

This is a prototype of a simplistic design of hydro flow power. It shows how the technology is rather small yet you can see how the "fan blade" is constantly moving and thus creating energy.