Norway's national energy utility, Stakraft - a renewable energy specialist - is launching the world's first osmotic power plant prototype by the Oslo fjord tomorrow.
What's an osmotic power plant prototype you might ask (I did)? Presmably we all learned about osmosis in biology class (I did) - the process by which water diffuses through a semi-permeable membrane. The industry already uses this to desalinate seawater.
Osmotic energy works because nature will always try to balance liquid at different concentrations and levels. For instance, a river of freshwater running into the saltwater sea releases tremendous amounts of energy.
In this case, the flow of freshwater idrawn through a membrane towards seawater creates pressure - as much as a 120 metre waterfall - which can drive a turbine.
The Norwegian prototype will initially make just enough power to run a coffee-maker, but eventually hopes to run a commercial-size plant by 2015, producing about 25 megawatts of electricity, enough for 10,000 homes, is the first time osmosis has been used to generate power.
Stein Erik Skilhagen, who's in charge of the project, says: ""It is a form of renewable energy which, unlike solar or wind power, produces a predictable and stable amount of energy regardless of the weather".
Apparently osmotic power has an annual global potential of 1,700 terawatt hour (TWh), which is half Europe's current power consumption.
[Spotted on News.com.au]
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