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UCLA ESS 15 ocean/climate science communication project for Prof. Tripati in Fall 2014

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Monday, December 1, 2014

Possible Solutions to Negative Tidal Power Impacts on Marine Life


The negative impacts brought upon by the usage of tidal waves do have possible solutions!


Many studies have been conducted on the movement of marine life near tidal generators, and whether or not a high number of collisions would occur between the animal and blade. For instance, a study was conducted on a tidal stream generator in the East River in New York. 24 different motion detectors were placed underwater to determine the movement of marine life around the tidal generators. The results were promising, indicating that almost no fish used the portion of the river where blades existed. Those that did use that particular portion tended to avoid areas of imminent danger. This study seemed to indicate that the generators were placed in a smart area, away from heavy marine animal population; the fish that did swim around the area also knew how to avoid potential hazards.

Problems presented by the production of the tidal generators also have potential solutions. Experts suggested using sound insulators to keep in the sound, as well as using devices to cancel acoustics that do get emitted. Another possible mitigation technique would be to avoid sensitive areas at all, and turn off production during peak marine life movement seasons. Similar techniques were suggested to mitigate the electro-magnetic fields produced. Devices can be implemented to contain the leakage of electro-magnetic fields, as well as to limit the amount of field emitted in the first place. By using non-toxic chemicals and coatings in and on the tidal power generator, the chemical problem can be easily solved.

It is clear that there are options available to mitigate potential problems presented by tidal power generator. Some of these have been well researched, while there are still other studies that are under way to determine even better ways to control these environmental impacts.
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Sources:





http://www.energybc.ca/profiles/tidal.html

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