New device to power the world?
According to a report in the Telegraph, the new technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot, about one mile an hour, meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe.
The technology would require up to 50 times less ocean acreage than wave power generation.
The new device, conceived by scientists at the University of Michigan, has been inspired by the way fish swim, consists of a system of cylinders positioned horizontal to the water flow and attached to springs.
The system is called Vivace, or ‘vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy’.
As water flows past, the cylinder creates vortices, which push and pull the cylinder up and down. The mechanical energy in the vibrations is then converted into electricity.
