PROS AND CONS OF OSMOTIC ENERGY

ENERGY FROM SALT AT THE RIVERS’ END

Salient grade, or osmotic energy uses the difference in the salt content of fresh water and salt water to generate electricity. This exotic sounding process is actually quite simple. It uses two natural processes and a hydro turbine to make electricity.

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Plant roots are membranes, filters of sorts, which absorb water and nutrients from the ground while keeping out dirt and other impurities. The water and nutrients are then carried to the leaves of the plants to sustain life. This process is called Osmosis .

Synthetic osmosis uses a membrane between fresh water and salt water. As salt water absorbs fresh water through the membrane, a pressure difference and flow is created between the fresh water and salt water. The water flows across a water turbine generator and creates electricity.

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A detailed description of the osmotic energy process can be found at Statkraft Osmotic Power known for decades but considered too expensive to use as a practical means of electrical power generation. The high cost of materials used in osmotic membranes drove power generation costs to levels approaching ten times more than conventional generation.

However, recent advances in membrane technology have so radically changed the cost equation that engineers believe that they will soon have systems in place that can profitably generate electricity for about $.05 per KWh.

If full scale generating plants bear out that estimate, this energy resource will be directly competitive with conventional fossil fuel generators.

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ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLINESS –

Osmotic systems mix fresh water with salt water to obtain energy. The effluent outflow from an osmotic generation station will be brackish, or a mixture of fresh and salt water. Since this what happens when rivers dump into the sea anyway, it is safe to say that this system will be among the most environmentally friendly industrial systems known. _________________________________________________________________

COST –

Osmotic technology has been quation that engineers believe that they will soon have systems in place that can profitably generate electricity for about $.05 per KWh.

If full scale generating plants bear out that estimate, this energy resource will be directly competitive with conventional fossil fuel generators. _________________________________________________________________

AVAILABILITY –

This resource is limited to those locations where rivers flow into the oceans of the world. But even though the locations are limited, full utilization of osmotic energy would supply multitudes with economical electricity for as long as they inhabit this planet.

This UN Salt Water Energy Summary estimates the global exploitable potential to be in the area of 2,000 TWh annually. _________________________________________________________________

AESTHETICS –

The number of osmotic energy facilities will be few and located in existing harbors, virtually all of which are already developed.

This means that there should be virtually no aesthetic concerns surrounding the use of this energy resource. So, even as our rivers end and flow into the seas, they offer one final bounty, which, if cared for properly, can serve us for all time.

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