At what point is research and energy exploitation and what are the potentials of renewable energy?

For some years we have realized, in a definitive way, that the energy to move, illuminate our homes, operate industrial plants and support the computer network that regulates our lives, may not depend entirely on oil .

The time we have lost, in all fields, to create a circular lifestyle, has had repercussions on the problem of waste , on the pollution of air and water , on the intensive exploitation of the resources of the earth that are in its bowels that on its surface.

Today we are aware of having to find alternatives to oil, even if politics often lives by decision-making inertia and lobbying pressure when dealing with this topic.

From the scientific point of view, progress has been made in the technologies for creating, storing and distributing electricity from the wind, solar and hydroelectric sectors. But certainly more energy is available and at low cost, if we want to completely replace fossil fuels that have a deadline of availability.

Even the ocean (or the sea) is part of this possible source of energy of which little is known and whose exploitation is, for now, very marginal, but which gives excellent hopes of being able to capture the enormous amount of energy that the motions waves, currents, differences in the salt gradient and water temperatures generate.

Scientists have calculated that it would be possible to derive an energy value of 2 Terawatts from the oceans, which corresponds to about the total energy consumption that the planet produces.

But how is energy generated and how can it be used?

We must consider, for example, that waves are the largest source of renewable energy available, with a high energy density , higher than that of the sun and wind. Furthermore, the motion that generates energy is not occasional but regular and predictable, with a widespread geographical extension.

At present, there are studies carried out by the University of Turin in the past years that have led to the construction of experimental equipment, in collaboration with ENI, which consist of two gyroscopes that convert wave motion into electrical energy. On these devices it is also possible to install photovoltaic panels creating an inertial hybrid system. The characteristic of these machines, called Iswec , is to adapt to the direction of the currents and waves, to make the most of the energy they produce.

In terms of nominal power, they are machines that have been designed to create around 50 Kw of energy in the presence of a wave of at least 1.5 meters.

Among the many negative effects that global warming is affecting our planet, one can be considered positive. Increasing atmospheric temperatures have been found to increase wave energy. According to a study by Nature Communications, published on January 14, 2019, wave height from 1948 to today had increased by 0.4%.

Iswec, is not the only experiment that man has done in an attempt to exploit the energy produced by the sea, in fact the first studies date back to the last century but they were shipwrecked because of the difficulty to operate in the marine environment, of the technologies at the height and cost then prohibitive.

During the energy crisis between 1973 and 1974, these studies were resumed with the aim of finding technical and economic solutions compatible with the costs of fossil energy sources. However, it will have to wait until 2000, when the first plant came into operation, connected to a network of utilities, which generated 500 Kw but then was dismantled in 2012.

Thus also the Portuguese plant, in the north of the country, came into operation in 2008, which had a capacity of 2.25 Megawatts, lasted only a few months due to numerous technical and perhaps even economic problems.

Another interesting experiment in energy generation at sea was carried out in 1996 in Hawaii, building a power plant that produces the temperature difference between surface and deep waters, which can even reach 25 degrees.

After years of studies and attempts, it seems that by 2050 plants could be installed in the world that would be able to generate electricity equal to 350 Terawatts / hour from tides and waves. The idea would be to place the power plants offshore, where the waves are maximum, considering that the surface of the oceans is equal to 71% of the terrestrial, so you can have energy sources spread across all continents without space limitation.

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