Energy, energy, who’s got the energy?
The Oil Age is winding to a close, whether we’re ready for it to or not. And ideas about how to generate energy in other ways abound, some good, some bad, some ugly. Most have fairly high costs in other areas, whether its the environmental impact of coal mining, the aesthetic impact of huge wind farms, or the economic impact of ethanol.
However, a new idea from scientists at the University of Michigan may have some legs…or, more accurately, fins.
They’ve discovered a way to harness large quantities of energy from slow moving water, and could require, for example, up to 50 times less infrastructure/coverage of the ocean than wave energy.
In a flash of what I think is just beautiful imaginal activism, the design was inspired by how fish swim.
Michael Bernitsas, one of the researchers involved in the project says:
“This is a totally new method of extracting energy from water flow,” said Mr Bernitsas. “Fish curve their bodies to glide between the vortices shed by the bodies of the fish in front of them. Their muscle power alone could not propel them through the water at the speed they go, so they ride in each other’s wake.”
They call their system Vivace, and you can read about it here in the UK Telegraph…
Illustration by Omar Jamil
This image of Vivace on the ocean floor is from the University of Michigan Engineering Department…
Imaginal Activists 