Alternate Energies

The world's sources of fossil fuels are drying up faster than the earth can renew them. Fossil fuels, like coal and oil take the earth thousands of years to reproduce so an effective alternate energy source must be explored.

Recently many countries have become increasingly interested in indigenous, renewable energy sources, such as tidal energy as an alternate to fossil fuels for the production of electricity. Tidal energy is a huge source of renewable energy and holds great potential for future electricity generation. Tidal power is predictable, unlike solar power or wind energy. Though, even using modern day technological advances the amount of energy generated will still not totally cover and resolve the world's energy supply problems. Tidal energy defiantly has its advantages as a supplement in some circumstances, but should not be viewed as a complete alternative just yet.

2.0AVAILABITY OF RAW ENERGY

Tidal power is available from the normal flow of the ocean filling and emptying the words coastal basins twice daily. There are only a limited amount of areas in the world suitable for the construction of tidal power plants due to the fact that at many places the tidal swells aren't big enough. In fact only twenty places in the world have been identified as possible tidal power station sites. In Australia the most effective areas for plants are in Western Australia at Collier bay and the other various bays and inlets in that close proximity. Here the swells generally reach over four meters in hight.

3.0THE DEVICE USED TO TRAP OR HARNESS ENERGY

Tidal power generates electricity in a similar fashion to hydroelectric power. A dam-like structure is constructed across an estuary or inlet to trap a high tide of water and then let it pass through the turbines to generate electricity. The water flow can generate electricity on the falling and rising tide. To minimise construction costs is preferable for the estuary of inlet to have shallow bedrock at the entrance and minimal silt in the water.

4. 0ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES INVOLVED IN TIDAL ENERGY
4. 1ADVANTAGES

The biggest advantage of tidal energy is that it is a renewable source and there is plenty more where it came from. As well as producing energy a tidal power barrage can also provide improved road and rail links across an inlet, access to ports and industry and generate marinas. It is an easily available and very much predictable source of alternate energy.

4.2 DISADVANTAGES

The effect a tidal power plant will have on a certain area is hard to predict and varies between sites. A tidal power plant may affect the environment in which it is placed. Effects would take place on the marine life living in the area and also increase the hazard of a flood. Changes can also take place in erosion and deposition within a bay; the barrage will effect fish migration, disrupt the food chain and increase the salinity. The removal of rock, sand and aggregate required to build the plant can also disfigure the land and lead to problems in erosion and the ocean marine life. All factors should be carefully reviewed before constructing a tidal power plant.

5.0CONCLUSION

The great thing about using tides for energy production is that it is renewable as the tides fill the coastal regions twice daily. However, the construction cost can be expensive and the environmental impact may be more than it's worth. Though in some circumstances, where other construction is taking place, such as a marina or a road over an estuary, combining a tidal power plant would be a cleaver idea providing more benefits to balance the costs of construction and environmental impacts. Our modern day technology is still not advanced enough in this area of expertise to provide solely benefits from the construction of tidal plants and cannot yet be relied on as a completely stable means of alternate energy to perhaps one day supplement fossil fuels. However, I do believe that this is energy too good to be overseen and should be looked into to see if a more economical and eco-friendly alternative plant can be designed in the near future.