Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Flumill visit

Today we visited Flumill, a company that has recently invested a lot of money in harnessing tidal energy. The presentation was really cool, and I thought that the company had a lot of entrepreneurial spirit.

Today we visited Flumill, a company that has recently invested a lot of money in harnessing tidal energy. The presentation was really cool, and I thought that the company had a lot of good entrepreneurial spirit.

There have been some attempts at harnessing tidal energy, most of which have failed. Basically, moving water from tides or streams pushes on a machine, and this movement can generate energy.

Some companies try to put their wind turbines underwater to capture this water movement; however, the water's force is often so strong that the blades snap off.

Flumill tried a different approach to harnessing tidal energy. They use a long piece of metal that looks like a spiral noodle. It is secured to the bottom of the sea floor and, without any movement of water, stands vertical (as there is a buoyant component that holds up the top).

As water flows at the device, it forms an acute angle to the seafloor. This flexibility basically allows the generator to optimize the energy that it captures.

I thought the presentation today was super interesting. Flumill has a good thing going for them. It was also interesting to see that the private and public sector often work very closely together in Norway.