BlueWave
As we all have heard, the oceans are the biggest resource, which the humanity have. We have explored only 10% of our oceans and seas, whereas they are 71% of the world’s surface. The idea of our team is to show one side of the whole potential of the oceans and seas, namely electricity production. Ocean energy technologies are currently being developed to exploit the potential of tides and waves. Wave and tidal energy are currently the most mature technologies. Why is it necessary for every country with an ocean outlet (high tides) to invest in the construction of such power stations? Because tidal energy is an inexhaustible resource for electricity generation and does not pollute the environment as no harmful substances are emitted. The amount of electricity produced by this type of power station can be determined much more accurately than other power stations operating with inexhaustible sources (wind, sun, etc.). At 250MW of tidal power, more than 860,000 barrels of oil can be saved per year. Yet, despite all the advantages, they also have some disadvantages. For example, building such a facility requires serious financial investment. The dam wall, on the other hand, is an obstacle to the movement of sediments carried by the water, which leads to their accumulation. Salinity also changes, which also affects ecosystems. Because the tides in our country are too small to build such power stations, our country can begin to make use of the hydropower potential of rivers. Rivers are renewable sources that, in addition to water, are used in energy production. They are part of the oceans and are an important natural resource. The water resources in our country are limited and unevenly distributed, which necessitates the construction of hydroelectric power stations (HPSs). They cause less environmental problems than other power stations, but just like tidal power stations require large financial investments. The share of electricity produced from hydropower stations is low. Electricity produced from renewable sources is only 22% of the energy produced in our country.
GitHub: https://github.com/yistoyanova18/blue-economy-2020.git