Bart Meertens:
Blue energy is a way of making energy by a natural process of salt and sweet water. This is calls osmosis. Where sweet water mixed with salt water the temperature of the water rises with a tenth of a grade Celsius. When salt water evaporates there exist sweet water and the salt remains. When this process repeats, there is getting a lot of energy coming out of it. You can compare this system with a kidney dialyses machine. Only then thousands time bigger.
In the Netherlands a company Kema is busy with the further development of this new idea. Because in the Netherlands three big West-European rivers pour into the ocean. And one of the best locations is our separation of the Ijselmeer with the North Sea by our ‘’Afsluitdijk.’’ One of these options is a prefect location for a prototype installation. There is only one negative aspect. That the production of a membrane to accomplish this dialyses machine is expensive.
But Kema had found a solution for that problem to. To recycle old protection materials from electricity cabels.
There are still a few obstacles before this way of gaining energy is reliable and efficient. But this way has a few advantages towards other durable installations like wind turbines fields in our North Sea. There is no sign of any landscape conversion. For the people this is a big positive issue. Because everybody knows there had something to be done to solve the energy/climate problem. But isn’t very happy when big changes in the landscape is the result.
Evolvement
I think that in the upcoming years durable energy is getting more important for the people. The development of different types of technique to accomplish this goes very fast. For company’s it is important to invest in this kind of ideas because on the long term there are many kinds of efforts.