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The Tidal Irrigation and Electrical System
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This system is a renewable energy power plant which is proposed for construction on the continental shelf and inshore waters. It is patented in the United States. The resource generating scheme is a hybrid of a tidal barrage and an OTEC that can generate electrical power in the terawatt range as well as producing food and the source material for biofuel and acting as a carbon dioxide sink . By using the lagoon of an artificial atoll as a tidal pump deep ocean water (DOW) is siphoned to the surface where it acts as a fertilizer for algae which can then be used as food for fish in an aquaculture or as the biomass source material for biodiesel or any other petrochemical. The Tidal Irrigation and Electrical System (also known as a TIE System) has a distinct advantage over other proposed renewable energy systems which hope to exploit DOW, in that there is a large economy of scale as the system increases in size. This is due to it also being a tidal barrage. Plus, as the tidal lagoon of the artifical atoll is acting as a gigantic bioreactor and the walls of the atoll can provide mounts of both wind turbines and wave power generators, every potential energy source is being exploited, i.e. solar, thermal, tidal, wind and waves. According to the inventor, enclosing approximately 100,000 kilometers could supply the entire world's demand for petroleum and provide much of the demand for electricity. This area is similar to the area of South Korea and represents a tiny proportion of the available continental shelf. However, there are many major obstacles to overcome in engineering an offshore structure that can withstand the the extreme wave conditions that can exist during hurricanes or other major events like tsunami and earthquakes. For instance, during hurricane Mitch, a category 4 storm, the biggest wave recorded was of a height of 30 meters. This wave if it were to crash into a ship, shoreline or the wall of the a TIE system would generate approximately 100 tons per square meter. See Also
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