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Uses of Tidal Energy – Tidal Electricity the Biggest One

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Uses of Tidal Energy

Tidal Energy is one of the many forms of Renewable Energy like Solar, Wind and Geothermal Energy. Tidal Energy is derived from the movement of Waves or Tides due to the Gravitational Attraction of the Earth and the Moon. Tidal Energy is a form of Gravitational Energy which can be used to do Work or be converted in other forms of Energy. Tidal Energy is still an immature technology with advancements in Tidal Energy not as rapid as other forms of Renewable Energy. While esoteric and path-breaking approaches are being developed to harness the freely available renewable wave and tidally energy, the full commercial development is still some way away. On the other hand, Tidal Barrages is a mature technology through its development too has been slow because of high investment and long building time. Here are the uses of Tidal Energy.

Tidal Electricity – Like other forms of Energy, the main usage of Tidal Energy is in the generation of Electricity. Tidal Energy is being used in France to generate 240 MW of Tidal Electricity at very low costs. There are other smaller plants in operation in Canada, China and Korea as well.DOE has located 40 places in the world where the differences between the low and high tides are big enough to generate commercial levels of Tidal Electricity. Note the Power generated from Tidal Energy is reliable as Tides are uniform and predictable in nature.

Grain Mills – Tidal Energy has been used for hundreds of years. Just like Wind Mills, Tidal Energy was used for the mechanical crushing of grains in grain mills. The movement of Turbines due to Tidal Energy was used in the crush Grains. However, with the advent of Fossil Fuels, this usage of Tidal Energy has become quite low.

Energy Storage – Tidal Energy can also be used as a store of Energy. Like many of the hydroelectric dams which can be used a large Energy Storage, so Tidal Barrages with their reservoirs can be modified to store energy. Though this has not been tried out, with suitable modifications Tidal Energy can be stored as well though costs may prove to be high.

Provide Protection to Coast in High Storms – Tidal Barrages can prevent Damage to the Coast during High Storms and also provide an easy transport method between the 2 arms of a Bay or an Estuary on which it is built.
Summary
The biggest and main use of Tidal Energy is in the generation of Electricity and most of the research is being done towards this end. Tidal Electricity is cheap, long-lived and non-polluting in nature. It has benefits over solar and wind power in the sense that it is predictable in nature and also has a higher load factor. The other usage of Tidal Energy is pretty low compared to Geothermal Energy which is primarily used for Heating Purposes.
PG

Abhishek Shah

7 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

  1. Hasrat

    Knowledgeable information

  2. bella

    i did not get what tidal energy in humans are for

  3. kavya

    How did tidal energy is useful for other purposes than you mentioned?

  4. Olivia Wiley

    What do we use tidal power/energy for? Is electricity the only thing?

  5. silas bromley

    how much do the generators make each year?

  6. Swapnil

    How much electricity does it generates??. And how it works or what is its mechanism?

  7. Nerida

    this doesn’t state how this is used in our everyday lives and what its good for