The Kinetic Power Station Creates Green Energy from Waves
Creating a sustainable source of green energy is extremely important for the future of life as we know it, and with rising carbon levels, pollution, and diminishing fossil fuel resources, that goal is becoming more and more important. While solar and wind energy are often seen as the primary solutions to the energy crisis, there are a variety of other green energy solutions available. One of those up and coming solutions is a kinetic power station known as Wave Star Energy. As the name would suggest, it literally harvests kinetic energy from the waves in the ocean, generating power from nature’s own movement. The station then converts this power into electricity which can then be used to power homes.
What is Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is any energy possessed by an object because of its motion. As an example, you can think of a ball at the top of a hill. When you leave it on the top of the hill, it doesn’t contain any energy, but if you push it, it will roll down the hill, creating kinetic energy. In another example, you could use a rollercoaster, going up a hill on the tracks it would need power, but going down, it would create velocity and momentum, which is its kinetic energy. This kinetic energy would remain static unless the speed of the roller coaster changed. So your coaster will go very quickly until it slows down when going up a hill. The velocity, momentum, and mass of an object affect the amount of kinetic energy created by the movement.
How is Kinetic Energy Harvested
Kinetic energy has been used to power small electronics for a long time. For example, Seiko has a line of kinetic wrist watches that use movement to power the quartz. Most kinetic energy harvesters use a spring system which draws kinetic energy into a converter, such as a microelectromechanical system or a piezoelectric system depending on the size. This then converts the movement into standard electricity and transfers it into a cable or a battery to be used.
Materials are a key element of this harvesting process, because they affect efficiency, energy transfer, and cost. Some of the best materials are electroactive polymers, which efficiently convert energy, vs. Electromechanical systems, which are expensive and complex.
The Wave Star Energy Kinetic Power Station
The Wave Star Energy Kinetic Power Station combines several ideas into one. The power station itself features a station on legs securely attached to the sea floor, with arms extending out to hold floats. The floats are buoys which are lifted up and down in the ocean’s waves, creating kinetic energy. This energy is transferred down the arms via hydraulics, and used to power an electromechanical generator, which created electricity.
Even more importantly, this energy generation does not interfere with water in the area, because unlike using dams and water turbines to move water to create electricity, the floats do not heat the water or cause a danger to the sea life around them.
The Future
Wave Star intends to create a saleable [...]
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