The hydrokinetic energy transfer system: promising new alternative energy?

Website design By BotEap.comThe same NASA developer who created a method to power robotic underwater vehicles has proposed a new technology aimed at converting ocean energy into electrical energy. Water-based electricity generation is nothing new. Hydropower is an important source of energy for many nations, as China’s ambitious dam projects demonstrate.

Website design By BotEap.comJack Jones and Yi Chao of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory invented a method for underwater devices to help propel themselves. The technology consists of using the temperature differences around you to create energy. This involves a phase change material that changes from solid to liquid when temperatures go from cold to warm. The pressure on the liquid is used to generate electricity, which helps charge the battery.

Website design By BotEap.comThe researchers realize that the high-pressure liquid could be applied on a larger scale. Eventually, Jone and Chao, along with Caltech, came up with a system that would use fresh water in a closed loop, so there would be no harm to the environment in the process. As a bonus, the design also “eliminates all submerged electrical components, which are subject to corrosion,” says Jones. This is another added benefit of the system, as together with a low cost electrical generation system, it could mean that this whole system could be developed on a lower budget and be safer than the tidal generation system currently used in the East River in Manhattan.

Website design By BotEap.comThe system also allows power to be generated on demand, which would help meet peak usage times when power demand is highest. Other environmental technologies do not work in a similar way and often produce power at unpredictable times. The benefits of this are enormous, especially in the event that the traditional polluting methods of power generation that help meet demand during peak hours are eliminated or banned.

Website design By BotEap.comUltimately, profitability will be the main issue. Will this technology become economically practical? NASA scientists say that current research on that aspect is only in the early stages and cannot promise anything. Many of these promising technologies are being proposed. With energy being such an important aspect of our economy, it has become vital for researchers like these at NASA to get the right funding and support. Amid trillions given away for free to bankers and homeowners who bought homes they couldn’t afford, less than 1% goes to promising projects like this one.