OK, so we have a debate between advocates of tidal wave power and advocates of harnessing ocean currents to provide us with clean, renewable energy. Who’s right? Well, there are advantages to both approaches but only one will serve us reliably for the long haul. It is tidal wave power. The reason is frightening but also very simple.
As I have shared previously, right now, in the final quarter of calendar year 2008, the acceleration of the climate crisis is sounding environmental alarms on every continent. The worst of the worst is happening and at a pace which outstrips the estimates of some of humanity’s best minds. The ultimate consequences are known only in part. One of them, though, will be the shifting and/or destruction of ocean currents. We don’t know precisely how bad the situation will become but we do know that ocean currents will change dramatically in the next few years.
How does this relate to harvesting tidal wave power? The answer could not be more clear: the tides are caused mostly by the moon and its orbit around the Earth, which also is in constant motion. That is why high tide does not occur at the same time every day. That is why the sunset is not the same color every day. The list of effects goes on.
Ocean currents, on the other hand, are caused mostly by wind patterns and the planet’s hydrologic cycle, precipitation patterns and the way fresh water is distributed and stored through precipitation patterns. So, as I have explained previously, if global warming will cause ocean currents to change, does it make sense to install submerged turbines to be propelled by currents which move?
Put another way, tidal wave power will be with us so long as we have a moon – an arrangement which is not affected by the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation or overfishing. So, there you have it. Harnessing tidal wave power is not without its environmental consequences, such as to mangroves and other natural coastal real estate, but once constructed, tidal wave pattern systems make sense as a long-term source of clean, renewable energy. This environmentalist, on the other hand, cannot support the quest for ocean currents to power our cities because those currents are about to become errant – or just plain vanish.
Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line
Corbett Kroehler
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