Tidal Energy Is Not Renewable
Tidal Energy Is Not Renewable
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
I've made similar comments regarding wind energy. If taken to massive scale it will impact downstream climate patterns.
I usually get downvoted to oblivion like people think I'm attacking renewable energy. My point being that its only renewable up-to a certain scale.
Everything is renewable up to a certain scale. Harvesting Sun energy directly using Dyson sphere? Well, tough luck, Sun's gonna burn out one day. Harvesting other stars? Well, tough luck, heat death is coming.
Winds are generally powered by the sun though. Tides are more directly "powered" by momentum. The sun does not renew rotational momentum the same way the sun "renews" the temperature differentials that generate wind. On the scales on worrying about if the sun is a renewable resource, we hardly matter.
What do you mean tides are "powered" by momentum? They're "powered" by the moon's gravity. And the sun literally does "renew" rotational momentum..? I respectfully don't know what you're saying.
Theres articles and research going on discussing placing wind farms in common hurricane paths as a means to sap the energy from them and reduce damages.
If you place massive windfarms in places that contain lots of wind energy, you will remove energy from the system and change downstream climate cycles.