Tidal Barrages Essay

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Tidal Barrages Tidal barrages are an effective way of harnessing the power of the ocean’s tides to generate electric power. The barrage method of harnessing tidal power uses the potential energy from the difference in height between high and low tides. A tidal barrage works in a similar way to that of a hydroelectric scheme, except that the dam is much bigger and spans a river estuary. First, a strategic location must be found that will effectively collect enough energy to power the turbines from the tides and will also accommodate to ship traffic. The incoming and outgoing tide moves through the turbine tunnels. The turbines drive the generators producing electric energy. An advantage of barrages is that they reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using green tidal power. The tides are also entirely predictable, thus it can be arranged for other power stations to generate at those times when the tidal station is out of action. Tidal barrages improve transportation because of the development of traffic or rail bridges on the dam across estuaries, and not many places have dramatic enough tide change to support tidal power plants, which are housed inside the barrages. Tidal barrages require no fuel and are inexpensive to maintain. Once you’ve built it, tidal power is free. (Turbines in a dam and vertical-axis turbines are not too expensive to build). A major drawback of tidal power stations, however, is that they can only generate when the tide is flowing in or out. Another problem concerns the ecological effect that tidal barrages may have on the estuaries they span. There is also a fear that the change in water level the barrage will create is certain to have a serious effect on an aquatic and shoreline eco-system. An example of this includes the effects on plants and animals near the tidal stations as many of the fish will suffer due to the pull and grinding

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