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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Dutch seek to harness energy from salt water mix AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dutch researchers are seeking to add a new, largely untapped renewable energy source to the world's energy mix with the opening of a "Blue Energy" test facility on Wednesday. Blue energy takes advantage of the difference in salt concentration between sea water and fresh water to produce electricity. Rik Siebers of REDstack BV, the company overseeing the project, said the goal is to improve the technology to the point where it will be profitable to build blue energy plants commercially in the 2020s. Siebers said blue energy will one day have its own niche. "For wind turbines you need wind, and solar panels work in the day, but water is always flowing," he said in a telephone interview Wednesday. The Dutch plant has a theoretical maximum capacity of 50 megawatts, about enough to power 100 Dutch homes. A more limited trial of similar technology began in Norway in 2009. The technique uses two specialized filters with salt and fresh water on each side. One filter lets positively charged sodium ions seep through, while the other admits negatively charged chlorine ions, creating a natural battery. Each square meter of the filter panel can generate roughly one watt, and the filters are then arranged in stacks of hundreds to multiply the effect. It's no coincidence the technique is being pioneered in the Netherlands, which has a wealth of river-coast interchanges including the Rhine and Meuse river deltas. The test plant is strategically located on the Afsluitdijk, the long dike built off the Dutch coast in the 1930s that turned part of the North Sea into an enormous freshwater lake. The project is being funded by a mix of government and private sponsors, with participation by the University of Twente. Alchemy2000Master Well known semi-permeable membrane technique. YES you can make electricity this way, been known since the 70;s. But at a cost of thousands of times fossil. Not at all economically feasible. Interesting science, though. 7-1 Tex Lib In 2011, 20.5% (123.5 TWh) of Germany's electricity supply (603 TWh) was produced from renewable energy sources, more than the 2010 contribution of gas-fired power plants 4-3 Tex Lib EIA estimates that about 11% of world marketed energy consumption is from renewable energy sources (hydropower, biomass, biofuels, wind, geothermal, and solar), with a projection for 15% by 2040 5-2 Alchemy2000Master I know the dream sounds really good. But reality interferes. Have any of you renewers actually developed a renewable energy system from scratch? Did the engineering, costing, manufacturing, and implementation yourself? At your own business? I did. Solar. Germanium. State of the art. 42% efficient cells. The economic reality is that even if it were 100% efficient it would still lose tons of money compared to fossil. Do BOTH the engineering AND economic analysis. You'll come to the same conclusion EVERY TIME. No... its not a political agenda. Its simple reality. Rabnud @Alchemy What you say is certainly true now; but the economic advantage of fossil fuels continues to lessen, and with ongoing development will disappear. When you factor in the huge environmental and health costs of fossil combustion, it's clear that renewable will be, and may already be, the better economic choice. Fresno I think that the author has no idea as to how the numbers that he used might be calculated, or what they mean. 50 megawatts will power a lot more than 100 homes, more like 10K homes, on a hot day with the drier running and the stove fully used. With a realistic load per household, twice that many or more. Where oh where has the editor gone, and is he technical, or an English major? 8-1 Z This news will mean nothing if Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works division delivers as promised. Search: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Fusion Reactor. Nuclear energy is cheap as @#%(#& if you don't have the radioactive problems caused by fission. Efficient fusion is the holy grail and Skunk Works says they have a lab breakthrough. Now they are going to work the prototypes and have an annual build of prototypes with expectation for commercialization in ten years. The reactor can fit in a large pickup truck and power 80,000 homes. This announcement by Skunk Works didn't even make the top headline billing on the day of info release when it will change the future of energy for man. 4 Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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