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Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

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Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby hawkeye » Wed 28 May 2008, 22:01:06

I know research has been going on for several decades on generating electricity from the current of the Gulf Stream using turbines. Florida Atlantic University and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (now one in the same) have been looking at this potential energy source for quite some time. I'm wondering why we haven't progressed farther than we have in this research. Am I missing something???? or is it because big business hasn't figured out how to capitalize on it yet.

It also seems as though there's some chemistry in generating electricity that can also result in creating a fresh water drinking source from salt water.
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby Micki » Wed 28 May 2008, 22:10:18

Perhaps they are expecting the trans-atlantic conveyor belt to shut down (??)
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby Slowpoke » Thu 29 May 2008, 09:40:13

With sweet water ice pouring into the North Atlantic on a constant basis, that may well happen in the not too distant future.
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby burtonridr » Thu 29 May 2008, 19:07:22

Micki wrote:Perhaps they are expecting the trans-atlantic conveyor belt to shut down (??)


You sure could slow it down if the conveyor were taxed to much....

Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

The energy being transfered or imbalance causing the movement of the conveyor is heat. Which is caused by the sun, so basically the conveyor is powered by the sun, and other heat producing phenomenons.

Think about what is affected by the conveyor... The weather.

Ocean temps greatly affect the weather. The weather greatly affects many other things.

I'm sure that using a few generators would cause no harm to the balance. I'm also pretty certain that building a ton of them would be the most economic thing to do.

However, I wonder if people that damned up one river knew the impact it would have on fish.

Also I wonder about the effect solar panels will have on the earths temperature or microbial life in the ground below the panels or any life forms underground.

Ok now I have just completely flew off my rocker and off topic....
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby Micki » Thu 29 May 2008, 20:52:56

I was referring to what slowpoke said.
Fresh water melting in Siberia and the arctic dilutes the salt of the gulf stream, which is needed to get the motion and puts it in jeopardy of stopping. It has stopped in the past during periods of warming (some millions of years ago) and I think it said to have stopped for a couple of days a couple of years ago.
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby hawkeye » Thu 29 May 2008, 21:24:54

Interesting, I've never known of the Gulf Stream to stop. I always thought it's movement was a function of the earth's rotation. Maybe I'm off my rocker... I need to do a little research.
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby hawkeye » Thu 29 May 2008, 21:32:35

Some tid bits of information....
Ocean currents move in response to global wind patterns and Earth's rotation. Uneven heating of Earth creates global winds that form three separate bands in each of the northern and southern hemispheres. Earth receives more solar radiation at the equator than it does at the poles, and this uneven distribution of heat creates pressure differences, which in turn cause the movement of air, or wind. Earth's rotation causes fluids — both air and water — to be deflected as they move across our planet's surface. This is known as the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect causes winds to move in an eastward or westward direction in addition to their northward or southward flow.
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby Micki » Thu 29 May 2008, 21:38:27

The North Pole is warming up faster than the rest of the world, with potentially devastating consequences for humanity. Sea-ice cover across the region has already decreased 10% during the past 30 years, lowering the salinity of Arctic waters and risking a change in the Gulf Stream’s ability to convect warm water to Northern Europe whose mild winters are a direct result of this massive transatlantic ‘conveyor belt’. Two new projects funded by the EU’s Sixth Framework Research Programme (FP6) are tackling these issues in a big way.

EU research

But most scientists agree that the negative effects would outweigh the beneficial ones. And no negative effect looms larger in the public imagination than a slowing or change in direction of the Gulf Stream, technically known as thermohaline circulation. As ice cover recedes, melt water changes the Arctic Ocean’s salinity and flux, or the way currents with different temperatures mix and disperse.

“The thickness of Arctic ice cover is a major factor in the stability of thermohaline circulation,” observed Casale. “If there were a sizeable change in flux from north to south, thermohaline circulation could be seriously affected.”



Note the gulf stream is not a one-way current. The conveyor belt moves both ways.
It transports warm water in the upper water levels to Europe and brings back cool water near the bottom.
Do some more searching specifically on this topic rather than currents in general.

Having that said, there may be other factors as well to the gulf stream. But I think it is becasue of the thermohaline circulation that it is particularly strong. Once this goes down, you don't get so much power out of it.
If you haven't studies this yet you may want to read about the potential climate impact this could have. i.e. ice age (or at least much colder) in Western Europe etc.
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Re: Harnessing the power of the Gulf Stream

Unread postby hawkeye » Fri 30 May 2008, 21:16:32

Good points Micki, I will dive into it a little more... no pun intended :-D
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