9 years ago
Portland Just Installed Water Pipes That Generate Electricity!
Lucid Energyportlands-new-pipes, a Portland-based energy company, has come up with a brilliant idea to harness electricity from the water that flows through a city’s pipes. Small turbines are installed into the pipes which send the energy collected from the flowing water into a power generator. “It’s pretty rare to find a new source of energy where there’s no environmental impact. But this is inside a pipe, so no fish or endangered species are impacted.
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Comments on articles like these annoy me. Any time somebody tries something new, couchsurfing genius critics feel the need to point out all of the 'flaws' in their plan.
Water wheels (predecessors to turbines) have been in use for hundreds of years. They are used for many things, including catching fish, milling, and generating electricity.
This technology doesn't use open water like water wheels do, but the same concept applies. Pressure could be created by the small amount of backup at the turbine. Pressure could also be created by reducing pipe diameter. They could even set up a set of water pulses where you reduce the diameter before the turbine and increase the diameter after the turbine. I'd be interested to see the actual schematics.
Sorry for the mini-rant. Naysayers just annoy me.