Tidal power
 

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Have we trashed tidal power yet?
I don't think we have.

The most successful tidal power turbine on earth.
The O2 tidal turbine.
A thousand tons of steel for 2 mega watts and god only knows how many chopped up fish and marine mammals.
https://www.orbitalmarine.com/o2/
That's not going to cut it.

Free sea food as a byproduct of free energy?

Why would we? Tidal power is Moon power.

The subject has been discussed, see #3109 here.

Orbital O2 has only been operational since July

It's on this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ns#Operational. Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea produces 240 Megawatts since 2011.

Your denigratory speculation doesn't apply to all forms of tidal power like the oscillating water column. The big slow moving rotors probably churn out less sushi than small, moving boat propellers.

I don't get the theory of operation, unless it's simply utilizing the currents from tidal change. Figured the most efficient tidal systems would utilize the change in height, not the flow.

Probably the best system would be a dam blocking flow (in either direction) in a cove.

... the thing I like about tidal power is it's completely calculable and dependable. One can know when and how much the tides will fluctuate, calculate how much power any given design will produce, and then figure out if it's a viable product. The viability should be calculated to a high degree of confidence before a single thing has been manufactured.

There're various strategies. A dam at a cove is a tidal barrage.

Not really Moon power, but at the Strait of Gibraltar, there is a pulsing one way flow driven by evaporation in the Mediterranean Sea; with a counterflow in the depths. I can't find a reference but there was a proposal to use a horizontal sheet separator and extract electricity directly from the differing salinity of the two bodies of water,

You can set your calendar by it.

It appears the scheme I was thinking of is tidal lagoon power. Apparently this is economically viable but for the very long ROI.

"Tidal pools[5] are independent enclosing barrages built on high level tidal estuary land that trap the high water and release it to generate power, single pool, around 3.3 W/m2."

I watched a vid or 2 recently about tidal power.
And there are places on Earth where due to the natural landscape the flow is already pretty decent without additional damming (the constuction of which would upset the environment and use resources), e.g. Ireland and eastern Canada.

Also, experience has shown that the sound made by the underwater machinery is enough to keep many sea animals at a safe distance, reducing the sushi production. One project mentioned sensors which slowed down the turbines should any whales, etc., approach too close. Whether it is to save marine lives, or save servicing of damaged equipment, still a gain.

What I haven't come across (mostly because I haven't searched) is whether the marine environment is more or less harsh on the hardware than on wind turbine, hydro plants, etc.

I don’t know about that. If I had money to burn on power generation Id Look into the garbage dump. Most places around here just vent into the atmosphere. plus trash incinerators.