Controversial Effects of Tidal Energy

Renewable energy has be claimed to be one of the most discussed topics towards the development for further more efficient technology. Today there still remains a large controversial argument between the advantages and disadvantages that renewable energy may have on our environment and our societies. At this time were going to deal with the Tidal power renewable energy source. Before hand ill explain to you a little bit on what exactly tidal energy is and how it is formed. Tides are the waves created by the gravitational pull of the moon and also partially from the sun. The build up of these waves happens twice a day and ends up developing enormous amounts of water. The power that is formed with these waves could have the potential to cause mishaps and even sink ships. With that being said tidal energy is form and creates large sources of energy that can be harness by our near water coastline areas. That is precisely why tidal dams are built near shores and other coastal locations. During the high tide, water flows into the dams and during the low tide, water flows back out which causes the turbine to turn and give out energy.

Now that you have a better understanding of tidal energy we must consider the ethical approach towards the environment in which these projects are built and how it may change our society and the way we live our everyday lives. First were going to look at the disadvantages of tidal energy and how is could potentially harm us. There is a high capital investment that is involved with developing these large projects. The tidal barrages usually require large investments which may perhaps be the biggest disadvantage of  this technology. If something goes wrong during project development not only can it cause harm to the workers but tons of tax payer money would be lost in the process as well. There are limited locations, because the lack of sizable tides hot spots, which makes it hard for development to take place. Even though this technology may be safe to the air we breath it still harm some of the fellow inhabitant that roam the earth like we do. The role that tidal energy does is harm our marine life. It can lead to the some disruption in the movement  of fish and other types of marine life, and even kill some of the fish passing through it. On top of that this type of technology is still in an immature stage. As from the barrages during project development, some forms of tidal power generated by the tides are far away from where the electricity is located and consumed. Taking that into thought the cost for transporting the energy becomes expensive.

With some of the disadvantages pointed out lets now take a better look at some of the positive advantages that tidal energy may have on our society and potentially our environment. I believe one of the greatest advantages of tidal energy is the fact that it is all renewable and doesn't lead to any pollution of any sort to our atmosphere. This is something that our government and has been trying to resolve for many years and with this new technology we could potentially do so. Unlike wind energy, tidal energy is very easily predictable, making our electricity more reliable and uniformed. One particular perk that I found very critical is the life span of a tidal barrage. These tidal barrage have an extremely long life approximately around 100 years which is much longer than nuclear energy and other technologies. With the life span implied, cycle cost of tidal power plants eventually becomes very low in the long run. The main goal is to produce energy is the most efficient way possible. Tidal energy does just that with its higher energy density which is much greater than other forms of renewable energy like wind power. Tidal energy contribute about 80% of the load factor that is consumed which is a lot more than most renewable powers and fossil fuels.


With all these factors pointed our the ethical argument can be very controversial but i believe that the positives far outweigh the negatives. This alternative energy has a smaller effect on the environment in the long run simply by decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. No i don't believe it is ethical for our wildlife to suffer for humans to have cheaper energy, however new forms of tidal power are in process of being design that are safer for our wildlife as well, such as Vertical axis tidal systems and swan turbines, both of which are less harmful to our wildlife. With the right funding and development these renewable resources can help us take another step forward to bigger challenging technologies.