I came across this article on the BBC and wondereed what everyone thinks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-16676818

This looks like it will actually work, and in a realistic timeframe too..........

Looks like a novel idea and I thought it was sounding very promising until I got to the bottom of the page and read:

Quote
It believes that 200 sites could generate enough energy to power about 230,000 homes.

200 sites for 230,000 houses doesn't sound that amazing to me, better than nothing but not amazing, however add it to the wind power and other forms of hydro electric generation we have and I guess it does add to the final equation.

We need green energy and this type does seem to be good value for money too. 

Gets a thumbs up from me  . 

Good find DD. 

To be fair that's 200 sites just in the south west of England, Dorset to cornwall.

If you then took that nationally you could be powering a large number of houses around the Uk, add that to existing and new bulid wind farms that are planned and suddenly the ambitous carbon tagets set for the UK look a lot more achieveable.

I genuinely see potential in this tech, even if it is only a stop gap to more effficient technology at a later date.

Lets face it without the Nucomen engine (Also invented by a Dartmouth man Thomas Nucomen) we wouldn't have made the progression to more sophisticated propulsion units 

Yeah, good points DD.

I was also thinking this technology is like a big battery, pump the water up and store it until its really needed, like when the wind isn't blowing, it should help make green power in a more reliable way, something that is needed.   

Whoops. Real old Tech this. This is just a simple copy of Electric Mountain in North Wales. Not quite as green as you think.

The problem with this kind of generation is it's longevity. Once the reservoir is depleted, that your lot until it's replenished and if the weather is extraordinarily calm, not a great deal of pumping is going to take place.

These "Pistons", would need to be fairly huge to overcome the pressure required to pump the volume of water needed for continued generation. I for one, would not want to be stood near any pipeline should it burst.

Personally, this is a great idea for overcoming predicted peak consumption over a short period of time, definitely not a long term solution.

Still, best of luck to the fella' whom came up with this idea whilst playing with his Balls in some water, if he makes a few quid out of it, hat's off to you Sir. After all, our Countries Borrowing Deficit only stands at ONE TRILLION Pounds Sterling currently.

(Err, was that a slight rant ?.)

Oh and a link for those who maybe interested to find out a little more about Electric Mountain. BTW, been there, done that, one hell of an Engineering achievement.

                                                                          http://www.fhc.co.uk/

Quote from: Diesel on January 24, 2012, 23:54:09 PM
...Still, best of luck to the fella' whom came up with this idea whilst playing with his Balls in some water, if he makes a few quid out of it, hat's off to you Sir...

...(Err, was that a slight rant ?.)

Electric Mountain uses electricity to pump the water back up, so that costs and isn't very green.

This sounds like a good idea, even if it can only ba a supplement like most re-newables. The good thing about both is they can be switched on quick for peek demand.
My reservation would be on putting salt water on land and how that would change the environment.

My maths works out at £50 Million for 200 sites and 1/4 million homes. Plus alot of infrastructure. That is about the same cost and output as 1 gas fired powerstation. Plus savings on the infrastructure.
Not cheap esp. if the unit cost of 1/4 Million per site goes up.

Time will tell.