River Turbines On Floating Dock Could Electrify New York City

A New Jersey Institute of Technology professor and a student have developed a proposed design for floating docks that capture energy from river flows plus provide recreational space.

Charles Choi for LiveScience and MSNBC.com reports:

"Each dock could generate power off the city's river currents. Three vertical turbines fastened out of sight to the underside of each station would harness the 4 mph currents, with each module generating up to 24 kilowatts of constant energy from the Hudson and East Rivers.
These stations would plug into the conventional piers of the city, extending them into the rivers. They could alleviate the need for conventional power to light the city streets, with each module supporting 350 LED streetlamps.

These docks could eventually get extended further up the rivers to both generate power and increase recreational green space and tidal pools for wildlife, said researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and at GRO Architects in New York. They currently have a provisional patent on the idea." See full article.

Two-Way "Tide Power" Generator Design

There are a number of emerging designs for slow-moving turbines that will capture the flow of tides on rivers and estuaries. A new, two-way, design may solve a a knotty design and operations challenge.

Science Daily.com reports:

"Most current tidal stream generators are essentially wind turbines turned upside down and made to work underwater. They often include complex gearboxes and move the entire assembly to face the flow of the water..... The Southampton design does not need to turn around because the design of its turbine blades means that they turn equally well, regardless of which way the water flows past them. The blades are also placed in a specially shaped housing that helps channel the water smoothly through the turbine.

Another beauty of the Southampton design is that everything is wrapped in a single package that can be prefabricated so there will be few on-site construction costs. “Just drop it into flowing water and it will start generating electricity." See full article.