When most people think of harnessing renewable energy from the ocean, the gigantic spinning blades of offshore wind farms are probably the first thing that come to mind. Or may it's gracefully bobbing buoys capturing wave energy or dams that skim power off rushing tides.
Very few people, however, think of the oceans as a vast source of renewable heat that can be used to keep homes warm and showers steaming. But that's exactly what a growing number of seaside towns in northern Europe are doing, despite having some particularly chilly ocean water.
It should perhaps come as no surprise that the ocean can be used to climate control our homes. After all, the Earth's oceans essentially climate control the entire planet. The more than 70 per cent of the Earth that is covered by water serves as a kind of global thermostat. Oceans take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which helps to moderate temperatures, and they also emit heat from the sunlight they absorb. Clouds, too, which perform a variety of cooling and insulating functions to help regulate temperature on Earth, form from water evaporating off the ocean.
Harnessing just a tiny fraction of the heat stored in the world's oceans has theoretically been possible for many years, but has only recently been put into practice. One of the first places in the world to draw on the ocean for residents' heating needs is Duindorp, a small harbour town near the Hague in the Netherlands.
 |
| Ariel view of Duindorp, the Netherlands |
"Residents wanted their homes to be heated using renewable energy," said Paul Stoelinga, senior consultant at Dutch environmental engineering firm Deerns International. "But how to offer that for low-income residents was a problem. Technologies like solar panels were just too expensive and wouldn't produce enough energy in this region."
The process is similar to the circulatory system in a person's body. Blood gets oxygen from the heart and then delivers it through the body, returning de-oxygenated blood to he heart to start the process all over again. Likewise, the water in the pipes that services the neighbourhood is heated at the central facility and then runs through town distributing heat and eventually loops back to the power planet to be heated up once again.
Compliance365 is an independent energy consultancy. We provide advice and guidance on all our services; how to save energy; how to save money on your energy bills; and ultimately how to become more energy efficient. Our aim is to be as cost effective and flexible as possible for our clients.
0 comments:
Post a Comment