McGilvray.Mackay

Dr. Reich is the man

Global Warming

The problem in hand is that the planet earth has been responding to human action in a very alarming way. According to observations, the earth´s atmosphere has been oversaturated of CO2. This excess of CO2 causes what is known as Global Warming. This phenomenon in explained in detail by  [|Davis Guggenheim] in “An Inconvenient Truth”. media type="custom" key="9673046" width="96" height="96" align="left"

So Global Warming is an issue that directly affects humanity, sooner or later the consequences will be more evident than they are right now. I compromises the life on Earth by alteration the ocean currents, melting the icebergs in the poles and therefore increasing the sea level worldwide, concentrates the sources of water and precipitation in some regions of the world and stop providing water in other regions on earth causing draughts. Some may say that these citations are just part of cycles like the ice ages, and that the CO2 is always going high and low, so there is nothing to worry about. But Guggenheim showed that the earth “breaths” during the summer CO2 but because of the human intervention there always is more CO2 than the earth can “breath”. Now that we understand that earth is experiencing global warming and human existence may be compromised, we have to find ways to fresh water and non-emission ways to generate electricity. But before talking about how to solve the situation, let us first remember that social responsibility is the key for these situations not to happen again. This kind of problems happened because we, who are not suffering from any of the consequences of global warming, are wasting earth’s resources without thinking on the consequences Like the emissions, because we have not stop and think on better ways to get energy thinking that oil is never going to run out, we that think that water will never run out, we that did not paid attention to the disaster caused by our irresponsible consumption.So here are some ideas of how to start been a responsible consumer today:

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Other than this easy ways to save water, we should work on research on high technique methods to get water or to save water in bigger scales. Some of the projects dealing with this issue are: water harvesting that basically consists in making buildings that collects rain water and then is filtrated and purified into potable water. This idea was implemented in the stadiums of the Beijing Olympics; other method is Smart water application technologies (SWAT). This idea consists in monitors that consider the rain forecast, humidity, and many other factors that will tell how much water is necessary to get a job done. This method saves about 27% of the water that normally used to do the same task without this equipment; this equipment can save up to 59% of the water normally used to do the same task with the equipment.

Now here is an alternative way to produce in big scale potable water about of sea water. The desalination process in a nutshell consists in pumping water from the sea, to a purification plant; make the water to diosmosis, passing through a semipermeable membrane where only the fresh water can pass through. Here is a video that will give more details of his technique.

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As I said before dealing with the water. The same thing applies to electricity, as simple as it sounds golbal warming will be stopped when the all the population takes consience of energy consuption. Esay ways to be a responsable energy consumer are: buying energy saver aplainaces such as fluorecent bulbs, high efficiency washer and dryers, and un pluging aplainances when there are not been used. So the same with lights that are not been used. Look for devieces that will help you accomplish this for example there are "smart" power strips that will stop giving energy to aplainces when they are no in use. For more of these examples, watsh the following videos of how turn your house into a green house.

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As we all know, the current way of energy generation is which contribution the most to the global warming is. This is why not only we have to be responsible consumers, but also responsible energy generator. The actual coal energy generation produces tons of gas emotions every year, in order to really start solving this problem; we must look for non-emission ways to get energy.



Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) filed for $100 million IPO in early November 2006. It is a U.S.A. company incorporated in Pennington, NJ, USA. It offers several ocean deployed alternatives for energy resources. OPT focuses on Wave Energy Converters (WECs). In the past, the company has focused on research and been largely driven by grants and funding from sources such as the U.S. Navy. Up until present, data concerning sales revenue and net profit has been limited because they are not currently selling their technology. The U.S. IPO is for just this reason. With this generated funding, OPT plans to demonstrate the feasibility of their WECs and hope to turn the focus of the markettowards these renewable energy resources. We are now at the turning point because renewable energy resource companies are becoming a growing necessity. But because of the difficult obstacles they face, with a rigid market relying on oil, revenue is projected for the future, but for now remains scarce.



Additionally, it just began generating revenue two years ago as it is a new company. Regardless, I have chosen to present this company because its technology is promising and I am especially interested in a technology that is made to derive untapped energy from a source that happens to cover 70% of earth’s surface. This technology needs to be presented in order to change the market’s direction; it’s crucial to our future.

OPT focuses on Wave Energy Converters (WECs) as their main technology for transforming renewable energy sources into usable energy. They have a line of wave power buoy stations (float type) ranging in size and power output. OPT’s PowerBuoy® has many phenomenal advantages as a renewable energy converter. In addition to the PowerBuoy®, OPT offers a smaller scale autonomous PowerBuoy® system. Both will be described in detail, following a brief introduction to wave energy.



Ocean waves are created by the interaction between wind and the ocean’s surface. Initially, small capillary friction waves are formed. With more time and stronger winds, these capillary waves develop into full ocean waves. The main factors that affect the energy contained in the waves are the wind speed, fetch (distance over which the wind blows), and duration. Once the seas are developed, they can travel for long distances with little loss in energy. This phenomenon makes waves an excellent source for energy extraction. Additionally, their energy density is much higher than competing renewable sources. Wind for example is not as energy dense and therefore wind farms require large areas to harness the energy.



Waves on the other hand are very dense and on average each wave front delivers 10-50kW/meter. This is a substantial amount of energy. To put this into perspective, a 10 mile by 10 mile section off the coast of California can produce enough equivalent wave energy to power the entire state. Worldwide, there’s approximately 1-10TW of renewable wave energy. It’s clear that this source should be tapped into, and that’s just what OPT is looking to do.

Essentially, the PowerBuoy® system works by transforming the wave induced displacement of a submerged cylinder to drive an electrical generator. This system is moored to the ocean floor, while the cylinder is free to move, while connected to the generator, in order to drive it to spin and create electricity. From there, the AC power is carried to the ocean floor, converted to DC, and then carried to a shore location via submerged power cables. Each buoy is actually part of an elaborate system that ties into one power cable to be brought ashore. These PowerBuoy® systems are capable of producing 45kW/buoy currently and by 2007, new models should achieve 150kW. By 2010, OPT plans to have a 500kW system on the market. Comparably, large nuclear and coal plants put out in the mW range. However, these PowerBuoy® systems can be coupled together to reach such an output. Each 45kW buoy is relatively small. At the surface, these buoys have 12ft diameter and is approximately 52ft long. Of these 52ft, only 13ft protrude from the ocean. The rest are subsurface. This means very competitive power systems can be developed in relatively small areas. More importantly though, the price per kWh of electricity for buoys now is 8-9 cents, and will be as low as 3-4 cents in the next few years. This is very competitive with current coal, natural gas, and nuclear prices. Natural gas continues to escalate as well.

OPT also has smaller scaled autonomous PowerBuoy® systems which can be used for off grid power. These systems will offer a new alternative for many oceanographic and naval projects because they can have a permanent source of renewable power. These systems require very little maintenance and make offshore power for standalone systems very achievable.

OPT not only plans to use their technology as alternatives to natural crude oil for power generation and supply to the regional power grid, but also for the power of desalination plants which are once again an up-and-coming concern.

OPTs PowerBuoy® systems have several advantages over other renewable energy competitions. Unlike wind farms, buoy systems are not nearly as much of a visual impact. Standing only 13ft out of the water, they will be barely visible from any distance, unlike wind farms that stretch upwards of 75m and require very large areas to convert energy. Additionally, these buoys have relatively no noise impact. There environmental impact is minimal. Studies have been conducted to ensure OPT’s systems do not disturb wildlife. Surprisingly, they actually provide some structure for additional habitat.



// MarketWatch - Stock Market Quotes, Business News, Financial News //. Web. 02 June 2011. . // OPT | Ocean Power Technologies //. Web. 02 June 2011. .

LINKS:

Ocean Power Files $100 million IPO. [|www.marketwatch.com]

Projects. [|www.oceanpowertechnologies.com]__ /projects __

Products. [|www.oceanpowertechnologies.com]__ /products __

Technology. [|www.oceanpowertechnologies.com]__ /tech __

Corporate Profile. [|www.oceanpowertechnologies.com]

OPT. [|www.marketwatch.com]