4 ms·

I wonder if they could do some sort of pumped hydro with the ocean. Dam off a bay somewhere?

• maxerickson 8y ago
  Salt water is hard to work with. Here's what a vaguely correctly sized station looks like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludington_Pumped_Storage_Power_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludington_Pumped_Storage_Power... The upper reservoir is measured in miles and is 300 feet above the lower reservoir. One half as big would still be pretty useful, but that's still big.
  • njarboe 8y ago
    Also, the volcanic geology of Hawaii means you want to have a very reliable seal on the bottom of that reservoir or you will be leaking tons of salt water into the local groundwater system. Possible, as modern landfills are sealed this way, but much more expensive than a fresh water lake. Not sure it has ever been done, actually. As for damning off a bay; that does not work so well as you would want a decent elevation drop for energy storage. Edit: Reading over the Ludington pumped station wikipedia page, it does have a sealed bottom. It is on another naturally porous geologic setting, sand dunes, and is above the water table. Thus the need for a sealed reservoir.
• walrus01 8y ago
  Salt water is basically cancer, ask anyone that's ever maintained a 45' yacht... You don't want to deal with it unless you absolutely need to. Anything exposed to salt water 24x7x365 is a study in accelerated entropy.