Japan wants to generate electricity using water. How it works?

Japan is a unique state thatlocated in the Pacific Ocean and consists of four islands: Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku and Kyushu. As of 2020, about 125.8 million people live on these and several smaller islands. Each of them requires electricity and, given that the country has a very developed technology, it needs a lot! Thermal and other types of power plants are very harmful to nature, so the Japanese have been looking for alternative forms of energy for many years. Previously, they have already tried to produce electricity from the sun and wind, but such methods did not give the expected results. Recently, another promising technology has been developed - they want to sink a turbine to the bottom of the ocean, which generates energy due to powerful ocean currents. Sounds cool, but there is one caveat ...

Giant Kairyu Turbine for Green Energy Generation

Content

• 1 Alternative energy in Japan
• 2 Extraction of electricity using water
• 3 Turbines for power generation
• 4 Difficulty in extracting green energy

Alternative energy in Japan

Japan is particularly interestedalternative energy sources after the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in 2011 (here are photos of the consequences). Alternative energy is primarily associated with solar panels and wind turbines, so the Japanese authorities have invested the most in them. At the moment, the country is the third largest producer of solar energy, and also produces electricity well from offshore wind. But the extracted energy is still not enough, especially since Japan can produce more electricity in another way - with the help of powerful undercurrents.

There are many wind turbines in Japan, but there are more efficient ways to generate electricity.

Generating electricity with water

Indeed, according to scientists, oceaniccurrents have a power factor of 50 to 70%. For comparison, this figure is 29% for the wind, and 15% for the sun. Without any exaggeration, the generation of energy with the help of water is more efficient than with the help of the sun and wind. This technology seems even more promising when you consider that off the southern and eastern coasts of Japan in the Pacific Ocean there is an undercurrent called Kuroshio, which carries the warm and salty waters of the South China and East China Seas to the northern latitudes, softening their climate.

The powerful current of Kuroshio can be an excellent source of energy

Turbines for power generation

About ten years ago, the JapaneseIHI company, which produces ships, aircraft engines, industrial machines and other serious equipment. In parallel with the main activity, the engineers all this time have been developing a huge turbine that spins under the influence of the flow of water and thereby generates electricity. Recently, it was finally tested and, apparently, proved its performance.

Approximate appearance of IHI turbines for power generation

Huge turbine for power generation receivedthe name Kairu. Outwardly, it is compared to a 330-ton aircraft because it is equipped with two large turbines. They rotate in different directions and are attached to the bottom of the ocean, somewhere in the depth of 30-50 meters. It is important to note that at the moment the design has been tested far from the conditions in which it should work. Someday it will be installed in the Kuroshio Current and, according to IHI representatives, it can produce up to 200 gigawatts of energy per year.

If all goes according to plan, Japan will have another source of electricity

THERE ARE MANY SOLAR AND WIND POWER PLANTS IN RUSSIA. THIS IS WHERE THEY ARE.

The difficulty of extracting "green" energy

According to ocean technology professor KenTakagi (Ken Takagi), for Japan, the easiest way to extract energy from the power of the ocean. From a geographical point of view, wind turbines are best installed in European countries, which are located at higher latitudes. He did not say anything about solar energy, but it is better to install panels for generating energy in sunny countries. It is impossible to call Japan such, because a mild and humid climate prevails there. And the island of Hokkaido generally has a subarctic climate with cold winters with lots of snow.

Japan is not very suitable for wind and solar farms

At the beginning of the article, I mentioned one nuance,which hinders the implementation of the idea with underwater turbines. The fact is that the installation of a huge structure at the bottom of the ocean is a much more difficult task than the construction of windmills and the construction of a solar power plant. In addition, the turbines must be strong enough to withstand high water pressure for many years. Based on all this, at the moment it is not clear exactly when the new technology will begin to bring benefits.

All underwater structures must be strong enough to withstand the pressure of the water.

Professor Ken Takagi also noted that Japan,unlike other countries, there are very few ways to generate electricity. Some people may think that new technology is just another impossible dream, but scientists are determined to try everything possible.

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What do you think about the project of the Japanese company IHI?Will the engineers be able to realize their idea, or is the project doomed to failure? Give your opinion and arguments in the comments or our secluded corner for communication.